LIT3RARV 

Ol-   THE 

University  of  California. 


GIK1"  OK 


■i 

Class 


ttbc  TIlnlversitB  of  dblcaflo 

FOUNDBD  BY  JOHN  D.  ROCKEFBLLER 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IN  THE  WRITINGS 
OF  THE  FATHERS 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED    TO    THE    FACULTY    OF    THE     GRADUATE    DIVINITY    SCHOOL    IN 
CANDIDACY    FOR    THE    DEGREE    OF    DOCTOR    OF    PHILOSOPHY 

(department  of  theology) 


BY 

HENRY  MARTYN  HERRICK 


CHICAGO 
1903 


PRINTED  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 


Regnum  fulgebit  in  regno,  cum  regno  venerit  regnum,  quod  nunc 
oramus,  et  dicimus:  Veniat  regmim  tuum.  Haec  ergo  domus  Dei, 
hoc  templum  Dei,  hoc  regnum  Dei,  regnumque  coelorum  adhuc  aedifi- 
catur,  adhuc  fabricatur,  adhuc  paratur,  adhuc  congregatur. 

— Augustine,  Tractate  on  John,  68,  2. 


PREFACE. 

This  treatise  upon  the  kingdom  of  God  is  based  upon  the 
Christian  writings  of  the  patristic  age,  from  Clement  of  Rome  to 
John  of  Damascus.  These  writings  have  been  studied  exegeti- 
cally  and  historically  in  the  standard  English  translations,  with 
reference,  when  necessary,  to  the  original  text.  The  editions 
used  are  the  following: 

1.  The  A7ite-Nice7ie  Fathers,  \nX.-w&n\.y-io\xx  volumes,  published  by  T.  & 
T.  Clark. 

2.  Lightfoot's  Apostolic  Fathers,  Greek  and  English,  one  volume. 

3.  The  Siippleme7ttary  Volume  (Vol.  IX)  of  the  reprint  of  the  Clark  edi- 
tion, published  by  the  Christian  Literature  Co.  of  New  York. 

4.  The  Nicene  and  Post-Nicette  Fathers,  in  twenty-eight  volumes;  also 
published  by  the  Christian  Literature  Co.  (now  by  the  Scribners),  Series  i 
contains  fourteen  volumes,  of  which  eight  are  of  Augustine  and  six  of  Chrys- 
ostom. 

These  volumes,  about  fifty  in  number,  contain  the  most  impor- 
tant writings  of  the  patristic  age.  Of  many  Fathers  all  the 
extant  works  are  given,  and  of  the  others,  with  hardly  an  excep- 
tion, sufficient  of  their  writings  to  afford  a  reliable  estimate  of 
their  views  of  the  kingdom. 

One  supplemental  work  I  have  found  to  be  of  great  value  — 
the  Cate?ia  Aurea  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  in  the  Oxford  edition  of 
eight  volumes.  Of  this  work  the  Encyclopcedia  Britaiinica  says 
that  "  under  the  form  of  a  commentary  on  the  gospels,  it  was 
really  an  exhaustive  summary  of  the  theological  teaching  of  the 
greatest  Fathers  of  the  church."  It  not  only  confirms  many 
patristic  references  to  the  kingdom,  but  apparently  gathers  in 
addition  all  the  important  references  (which  are,  of  course,  not 
numerous)  not  included  in  the  volumes  named  above. 

A  list  of  the  references  to  the  kingdom  in  these  volumes  of 
the  Fathers  (3,974  in  number,  including  1,410  scriptural  quota- 
tions) is  given  at  the  end. 


'Chapter 


CONTENTS. 


I  —  Introduction 


PAGE 

9 


PERIOD   I. 

Chapter          II  — The  Apostolic  Fathers i5 

PERIOD    II.    THE    ANTE-NICENE    FATHERS    SUBSEQUENT  TO 
THE    APOSTOLIC. 

A.     GREEK. 
-Chapter         III  —  Justin  Martyr,  Irenaeus,  and  Hippolytus         -         -  2i 
Chapter        IV  — Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  Methodius      -  25 
Chapter          V  — The  Apocryphal  Writings,   the  Apostolic  Consti- 
tutions, and  the  Clementines  -         -         -         -  3° 
►Chapter        VI— The  Liturgies  and  Minor  Greek  Fathers        -         -  35 

B.    LATIN. 

Chapter       VII  — Tertullian  and  Cyprian          -         -         -         .         -  38 

Chapter     VIII  —  Lactantius  and  the  Minor  Latin  Fathers        -         -  43 

PERIOD  III.     THE  NICENE  AND  POST-NICENE  FATHERS. 
A.    GREEK. 
Chapter         IX  —  The   Historians:     Eusebius,    Socrates,    Sozomen, 

and  Theodoret 46 

'Chapter          X — Athanasius 49 

Chapter         XI  —  Ephraem  Syrus,  and  Aphrahat     -         -         -         -  52 
'Chapter       XII  —  Basil,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and 

Gregory  of  Nyssa 55 

-Chapter     XIII  —  Chrysostom          -         -         -         -         -         -         '  ^i 

Chapter     XIV  — John  of  Damascus 66 

B.     LATIN. 

Chapter      XV  — Hilary 68 

Chapter     XVI  —  Ambrose 7i 

Chapter    XVII  — Jerome,  Rufinus,  Sulpitius,  and  Vincent         -         -  74 

-   Chapter  XVIII  —  Augustine 78 

Chapter     XIX  — Cassian 92 

Chapter       XX  — Leo  the  Great  and  Gregory  the  Great   -         -         -  96 

Chapter     XXI  — Additional  References  from  the  Catena  Aurea       -  98 

'Chapter    XXII  — Summary  and  Conclusion 100 

Tables '°7 

Index  of  References ^°9 

95]  7 


X  S  ^i  A  /f  p 

■    O-    THE 

CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

What  was  understood  by  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  early 
Christian  centuries  ?  To  what  extent  was  the  New  Testament 
usage  followed,  and  wherein  was  it  departed  from?  Did  the 
Fathers,  on  the  whole,  preserve  the  great  idea  and  hand  it  down, 
or  did  they  lose  it  ? 

It  is  a  notable  fact*  that  in  the  patristic  age  there  seems  to 
be  no  separate  treatise  upon  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  nearest 
approach  to  such  a  treatise  is  Augustine's  great  work  Be  Civitate 
Dei,m  which  he  gives  a  Christian  philosophy  of  history.  To  him 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  the  divine  government  as  realized  in  the 
church  —  the  church  which  is  ideal  and  historical,  in  heaven  and 
on  earth,  and  consists  of  angels  and  of  men,  of  Israel  first  and 
then  of  the  gentiles.  This  idea  is  evidently  at  a  wide  remove 
from  the  primary  views  of  the  New  Testament.  The  doctrine  of 
the  kingdom,  like  the  kingdom  itself,  may  be  said  to  work  like 
leaven,  rather  than  to  stand  forth  from  the  outset  as  a  formal 
and  definite  article  of  the  Christian  faith.  An  indication  of  this 
appears  in  Jerome's  Illustrious  Me?i.  In  his  list  of  135  writers  he 
mentions  about  240  subjects  upon  which  they  have  written 
(omitting  many  of  those  best  known  to  his  readers),  besides 
many  commentaries  and  letters.  Gennadius  adds  99  men  to  the 
list,  and  about  220  titles.  Of  these  460  treatises  not  one  is  upon 
the  kingdom  of  God.  But  many  of  the  best  thoughts  of  the 
early  centuries  cluster  around  this  theme,  scattered  throughout 
the  whole  range  of  the  literature,  and  possibly  no  other  theme 
is  more  suggestive  as  a  key  to  patristic  views  of  Christianity. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  and  the  apostles 
concerning  the  kingdom  is  a  necessary  starting-point.  Although 
Jesus  made  the  kingdom  the  predominant  theme  of  the  gospel, 
he  did  not  define  it.  He  adopted  the  word  from  the  current 
Jewish  teaching,  and  gave  it  a  new  meaning.  "The  bond  that 
unites  the  Old  Testament  with  the  New,  the  religion  of  Israel 
97]  9 


10  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

with  the  gospel,  is  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  to 
come,  and  yet  it  is  a  present  reality.  It  is  in  the  souls  of  men  ; 
it  is  a  living  force  in  the  bosom  of  society."'  The  dream  of  the 
earlier  prophets,  that  the  nation,  and  then  mankind,  would  become 
obedient  to  the  will  of  Jehovah  ;  the  individualism  of  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  and  the  sages;  the  visions  of  Daniel  the  seer — are  all 
combined  into  a  splendid  ideal  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  concern- 
ing the  kingdom.  Speaking  in  parables  whose  meaning  was  often 
purposely  veiled,  he  emphasized  the  inner,  mysterious  nature  of 
the  kingdom  more  than  its  obvious  features.  The  word  "  king- 
dom" is  abstract  in  the  sense  of  reign  or  dominion  —  of  power 
in  the  universe,  of  grace  in  the  soul  ;^  and  concrete  in  the  sense 
of  realm,  or  the  subjects  reigned  over.  The  word  in  the  abstract 
sense  occurs  but  rarely  in  the  New  Testament.  The  kingdom  of 
God  usually  means  the  company  of  believers,  the  Christian 
society.  Yet  its  domain  is  first  of  all  in  the  individual  soul.  It 
is  dynamic  before  it  is  static,  spiritual  rather  than  formal.  Before 
the  Christian  society  is  possible,  souls  must  be  renewed. 

Meyer,  throughout  his  commentaries,  maintains  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  always  signifies  nothing  else  than  the  Messiah's 
kingdom,  the  erection  of  which  begins  with  the  parousia,  belong- 
ing not  to  "this  world,"  but  to  "the  world  to  come"  (on  Rom. 
14:17;  cf.  on  I  Cor.  4  :  20).  On  Luke  17:21  he  defends  the 
translation  "the  kingdom  of  God  is  among  you,"  and  claims  that 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  an  ethical  condition  of  the  soul  is  a 
modern  idea,  not  historico-biblical.  But  an  idea  is  not  modern 
which  the  Fathers  uniformly  find  in  Luke  17:21,  translating  it 
correctly  "the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you,"  and  in  several 
instances  applying  with  exceptional  force  its  teaching  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  in  the  soul. 

The  idea  of  the  kingdom  as  involving  eternal  life  seems  trace- 
able in  Mark  9  :  45  and  47  ;  probably,  also,  in  Luke  18:18  and  24, 
and  John  3  :  3  and  15.  The  kingdom  of  God  (synonymous  with 
the  kingdom  of  heaven)  and  of  Christ  is  one.  Matt.  13  :43;  John 

'See  Fisher,  History  of  Christian  Doctrine,  pp.  23-5;  Fremantle,  The  World 
as  the  Subject  of  Redemption,  p.  38. 

'  Cf.  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Confessions. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

18:36;  Eph.  5:5.  As  to  the  relation  of  the  kingdom  to  the 
church,  the  only  passage  in  the  New  Testament  bearing  directly 
upon  it  (Matt.  16:17-19)  is  indeterminate.  This  passage  is 
peculiar  to  Matthew,  but  is  evidently  an  original  utterance  of 
Jesus.  The  idea  of  the  kingdom  is  apparently  here  embodied 
by  Jesus  in  the  church  as  the  form  whereby  or  wherein  the 
kingdom  is  to  reach  its  goal.  The  institution  which  Jesus 
chooses  as  the  distinctive,  visible  form  of  the  kingdom,  to  con- 
sist of  men  of  rock-like  faith  such  as  Peter's,  is  to  continue  unvan- 
quished  by  the  death  of  its  members.  The  earthly  decrees  of 
Peter  in  regard  to  the  kingdom,  as  represented  by  the  church, 
shall  be  valid  in  heaven. 

The  disciples  thought  that  they  understood  the  mysteries  of 
the  kingdom  (Matt.  13:51),  but  only  after  Pentecost  did  they 
begin  really  to  grasp  them.  Answering  their  inquiries  about  the 
kingdom  (Acts  i  :  6  f .  )  the  Lord  said:  "Ye  shall  receive  power, 
when  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you  ;  and  ye  shall  be  my 
witnesses."  Led  by  the  Spirit,  the  disciples  directed  their  ener- 
gies to  proclaiming  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  kingdom 
increased  visibly  in  the  growth  of  the  churches.  Still  looking 
for  the  speedy  return  of  Jesus,  they  anticipated  with  his  appearing 
the  consummation  of  the  kingdom. 

Besides  the  emergence  of  the  church  in  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles, which  to  some  extent  overshadowed  the  thought  of  the 
kingdom,  there  was  a  progress  of  doctrine  which  in  part  trans- 
ferred the  center  of  their  thought  and  preaching  from  the  king- 
dom to  the  king.  This  is  in  the  Fathers  frequently  carried  to 
the  length  of  identifying  Christ  and  the  kingdom.  The  new 
point  of  view  is  manifest  in  comparing  the  discourses  in  Acts 
with  the  parables  of  Jesus.  Three  times  in  Acts  "  the  things 
concerning  the  kingdom  "  are  significantly  combined  with  "  the 
things  concerning  Jesus  "  (8:12;  28:23,31).  Only  after  Pente- 
cost did  a  definite  Christology  arise;  but  from  that  time  it  began 
at  once  to  reveal  the  dynamic  which  established  the  eternal  life 
of  the  kingdom  in  men's  souls,  and  thereby  in  their  relations 
with  one  another  promoted  the  fraternal  life  of  the  church. 

But  as  time  went  on,  and  Jesus  did  not  return,  while  members 


12  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

of  the  new  society  were  being  removed  by  death,  an  adjustment 
in  their  thought  of  the  kingdom  became  inevitable.  Especially 
would  the  persecutions,  as  they  increased,  tend  to  make  trans- 
cendental the  views  of  the  kingdom,  as  to  the  nature  of  its 
conquest  of  the  world,  and  the  time  and  place  of  its  full  realiza- 
tion. The  general  tone  of  the  thirty-two  references  to  the  king- 
dom in  the  New  Testament  outside  the  gospels  is  eschatological, 
the  thought  of  the  kingdom  as  a  present  reality  being  merged 
in  the  form  of  the  church.  The  expectation  seemed  to  be  that 
when  Christ  appeared  in  judgment  on  the  earth  the  kingdom 
would  be  set  up  to  continue,  possibly,  on  a  regenerated  earth, 
though,  at  last,  not  under  the  control  of  the  Christ,  but  of  God 
the  Father. 

The  Apocalypse,  with  its  vivid  portrayal  of  the  times  of  per- 
secution and  of  triumph,  would  give  important  testimony  as  to 
the  changing  idea  of  the  kingdom,  if  we  knew  its  author  and  its 
origin.  The  millennial  ideas  of  the  patristic  age  seem  to  have 
sifted  through  the  Apocalypse  from  the  Old  Testament, 
especially  Daniel,  but  met  with  strong  opposition  and  proved 
evanescent.  The  idea  of  a  millennium,  however,  whether  as  a 
transformation  of  earth  into  heaven,  or  as  a  representation  of, 
or  prelude  to,  the  heavenly  consummation,  has  vitality,  and 
recurs  at  different  epochs ;  one  phase  of  it  notably  in  our  day  in 
writings  of  which  Fremantle's  The  World  as  the  Subject  of 
Redemption  is  typical. 

The  following  plan  exhibits  the  New  Testament  usage  of  the 
term  "kingdom  of  God"  or  its  equivalent,  with  the  most 
important  references,  some  of  which  might  be  otherwise  grouped. 

I.  God's  reign^the  abstract  idea. —  Matt.  6:io,  33;  Luke 
I  :  33  (Luke  17  :  21;    Rom.  14:17;    i  Cor.  4  :  20) . 

n.  Gods  realm  —  the  co?icrete  reality:  the  community  of  saints, 
or  the  ideal  society  of  men  as  brothers  because  sons  of  a  com- 
mon Father. 

{\)  As  a?i  order  oftlmigs  already  present  or  impe?idifig  (indefinite 
as  to  time.  Acts  i  :6f.;  as  to  place,  Luke  17:37)^  Matt.  3  :  2  ; 
4:23;  5:3.10;  12:28;  18:23;  19:12;  20:1;  21:43;  22:2; 
25:1;   Luke  19:11;   Acts  1:6;   Heb.  12:28. 

100 


INTEODUCTION  13 

( 2 )  Wit/i  Special  reference  to  its  personal  constituency  and  social 
nature.  Matt.  5:19,20;  8:12;  ii:ii,  12;  chap.  13;  19:14, 
23,24;  21:31;  23  :  13;  Acts  14  :  22;  i  Cor.  15:24.  Its  origin, 
growth,  and  process,  John  18:36;  Matt.  13;  Mark4:26f.  Con- 
ditions of  entering  and  remaining,  John  3:3,  5;  Matt.  18  :  i  —  4; 
Luke  9 :  62. 

(3)  ^5  having  bounds  or  limits,  and  thus  suggesting  orgainzed 
form.  Matt.  16:19  marks  the  point  of  attachment  for  the 
idea  of  the  church  as  the  kingdom.  Possibly  Matt.  13:41  is  a 
point  of  connection  with  the  millennial  idea. 

(4)  As  future,  but  not  definitely  eschatological.  Matt.  16:28; 
Mark  9:1;  Matt.  20:21;  26:29;  Mark  9: 47  (^/45);  Luke 
21  :3i;    22:  16,  30;    23:51. 

( 5 )  Eschatological,  associated  with  the  parousia  and  the  lastjudg- 
jiient.  Matt.  7:21;  8:  11;  13^3:25:  34;  Luke  23  :  42  ;  i  Cor. 
6:9,10;  Gal.  5:21;  Eph.  5:5;  I  Cor.  15:50;  Col.  4:11;  i 
Thess.  2:12;  2  Thess.  1:5;  2Tim.  4:1,  18;  Jas.  2 :  5  ;  2 
Pet.  i:ii;  Rev.  12:10.  In  certain  of  these  later  references 
the  kingdom  is  apparently  anticipated  as  about  to  exist  in 
heaven  after  the  parousia.  The  thought  of  Christ's  kingdom  as 
now  existing  in  the  celestial  world,  into  which  the  believer 
enters  at  death,  does  not  appear  in  New  Testament  times. 

Thus  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  New  Testament  is  a  com- 
plex idea,  the  emphasis  falling  now  upon  one,  now  upon  another 
of  its  several  phases.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  king- 
dom is  personal  and  social,  and,  when  the  idea  of  time  enters 
in,  usually  eschatological.  The  various  connotations  of  the  idea 
in  the  Fathers  are  usually  traceable  to  Scriptural  references  as 
the  points  of  departure. 

In  the  present  work  the  Fathers  are  considered  in  chrono- 
logical order,  arranged  in  groups  of  Greek  and  Latin  in  each  of 
the  three  periods.  There  is  in  general  no  sharp  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  the  second  and  third  periods,  in  the  current  ideas  of 
the  kingdom,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
churches.  Of  each  writer  the  references  he  makes  to  the  king- 
dom are  characterized  somewhat  in  detail  and  as  a  whole,  with 

101 


14  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

quotation  of  those  which  seem  most  important.  The  number  of 
references  quoted  (out  of  the  whole  number  of  nearly  four  thou- 
sand) is  between  five  and  six  hundred,  representing  about  fifty 
Fathers  and  over  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  works.  In  the 
supplement  several  tables  are  given,  showing  the  distribution  of 
references  to  the  kingdom  among  the  Fathers,  together  with 
their  use  of  Scripti 


ture, 


102 


PERIOD  I.— THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Clement  of  Rome,  in  the  first  certain  reference  to  the  kingdom 
after  the  apostolic  age,  says  that  the  apostles  went  forth  with 
the  glad  tidings  that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  about  to  come 
{Epistle  to  the  Corintliians,  42).  The  righteous  dead  dwell  in  the 
abode  of  the  pious;  and  they  shall  be  manifest  in  the  visitation' 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  (50).  These  references  regard  the  king- 
dom as  eschatological.  In  chap.  54  citizenship  in  the  kingdom 
is  spoken  of  proleptically,  in  the  sense  given  it  by  Paul  in  "our 
citizenship  is  in  heaven":  "This  have  they  done  and  will  do, 
who  live  as  citizens  of  that  kingdom  of  God  which  bringeth  no 
regrets;"^  but  the  kingdom  itself  is  eschatological. 

The  ancient  homily  by  an  unknown  author,  the  so-called 
Second  Epistle  of  Clement,  has  several  references  to  the  kingdom 
as  a  place  of  future  rest  or  blessedness.  "And  ye  know, 
brethren,  that  the  sojourn  of  this  flesh  in  this  world  is  mean  and 
for  a  short  time,  but  the  promise  of  Christ  is  great  and  mar- 
velous, even  the  rest  of  the  kingdom  that  shall  be  and  of  life 
eternal"  (5).  Twice  the  word /SacrtXeioy,  royal  palace  or  seat  of 
empire,  is  used  instead  of  ^aaCkeia.  "With  what  confidence 
shall  we,  if  we  keep  not  our  baptism  pure  and  undefiled,  enter 
into  TO  ^acriKetov  of  God?"  (6).  "The  unbelievers  shall  be 
amazed  when  they  see  the  kingdom  of  the  world  given  to  Jesus" 
(17). 3  This  does  not  necessarily  involve  the  conversion  of 
the  world.  In  sec.  12  occurs  the  important  passage:  "Let  us 
therefore  await  the  kingdom  of  God  betimes  in  love  and 
righteousness,  since  we  know  not  the  day  of  God's  appearing. 
For  the  Lord  himself,  being  asked  by  a  certain  person  when 
his  kingdom  would  come,  said:  'When  the  two  shall  be  one,  and 
the  outside  as  the  inside,  etc.  These  things  if  ye  do',  saith  he, 
•the  kingdom  of  my  father  shall  come.'"      Here  the  kingdom  of 

'  iiriffKOirri.  ^  ot  voXt.Tevdfj.ei'OL  ttjc  d/xeTa/x^XtjTov  troXiTeiav  tov  Oeov. 

3t6  ^afflXeiov  toi  k6jij.ov  iv  riji  'Irjaoi. 
103]  15 


16  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

Christ  is  identical  with  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  time  of 
its  coming,  though  future,  may  be  imminent,  and  is  to  some 
extent  conditioned  on  human  conduct.  "If  therefore  we  shall 
have  wrought  righteousness  in  the  sight  of  God,  we  shall  enter 
into  his  kingdom  and  receive  the  promises  which  ear  hath  not 
heard  nor  eye  seen,"  etc.  (9).  Whether  it  shall  come  in  and 
with  this  doing  of  righteousness,  or  as  a  consequent  reward, 
the  ethical  relation  is  important.  These  passages  are  clearly 
eschatological. 

In  sec.  14:  "The  Books  and  the  Apostles  plainly  declare 
that  the  church  exists,  not  now  for  the  first  time,  but  hath  been 
from  the  beginning;  for  it  was  spiritual,  ....  and  was  mani- 
fested in  the  last  days  ....  in  the  flesh  of  Christ."  By  these 
and  other  mystical  expressions  we  are  reminded  of  Hilary's 
view  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  his  flesh,  and  of  Augustine's 
De  Civitate  Dei,  which  is  both  kingdom  and  church. 

In  the  so-called  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  which  is  variously  dated 
from  70  to  182  A.  D.,  and  so  may  be  earlier  than  Clement,  it  is 
said  that  he  that  doeth  righteousness  shall  be  glorified  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  (21).  "They  that  desire  to  see  me,  and  to 
attain  unto  my  kingdom,  must  lay  hold  on  me  through  tribula- 
tion and  affliction"  (7).  If  we  relax  our  efforts,  and  slumber 
over  our  sins,  there  is  danger  lest  "the  prince  of  evil  receive 
power  against  us  and  thrust  us  out  from  the  kingdom  of  the 
Lord,"  apparently  from  attaining  unto  it.  It  is  mystically 
declared  that  "the  kingdom  of  Jesus  is  on  the  cross,  and  they 
who  set  their  hope  on  him  shall  live  forever"  (8).  It  is  said  in 
the  same  section  that  "in  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  evil  days, 
in  which  we  shall  be  saved,"  which  seems  to  involve  an  earthly 
experience,  perhaps  millennial.  There  is  a  temple  of  God  in 
renewed  human  hearts,  a  spiritual  temple  built  up  in  his  name  in 
place  of  the  Jewish  temple  (16).  The  church,  rather  than  the 
kingdom,  is  probably  here  in  mind. 

In  the  Didachc,  or  Teaching  of  the  Apostles,  the  following 
prayer,  with  slight  variations,  occurs  twice  :  "  May  thy  church 
be  gathered  together  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  into  thy  king- 
dom,  which   thou    hast   prepared   for  it"  (9  and    10). 

104 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  17 

Thus  in  the  earliest  patristic  reference  to  the  church  and  the 
kingdom  together,  they  are  clearly  distinguished  from  each  other. 
The  kingdom  is  still  future  and  eschatological  with  implied 
reference  to  Matt.  25  :  34  ;  but  nothing  is  indicated  as  to  the 
place  of  its  manifestation.  The  thought  may  be  that  the 
church  as  a  whole  is  to  have  place  in  the  kingdom  ;  as  Cyprian 
speaks  of  the  church  as  "that  which  shall  reign  there."  Twice 
in  quoting  the  Lord's  Prayer  the  closing  words  read  :  "  For 
thine  is  the  power  and  the  glory,"  omitting  "kingdom." 

In  the  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs,  which  may  possibly 
be  a  Jewish,  rather  than  Christian,  writing,  two  or  three  general 
references  occur  :  "  The  Lord  sware  to  me  with  an  oath  that  the 
kingdom  should  never  fail  from  me"  [Judah,  23).  "  His  king- 
dom an  everlasting  kingdom"  {Joseph,  19).  "The  kingdom  of 
the  Lord  shall  not  be  among  you,  for  he  will  forthwith  take  it 
away"  {Befijami?i,  9). 

The  Shepherd  of  Hernias  is  written  in  a  style  so  highly  figura- 
tive and  involved  as  to  be  often  obscure.  The  Visions  and 
Similitudes  center  around  the  building  of  a  tower  which  is 
repeatedly  declared  to  be  the  church  (  Vis.  3.3;  Sim.  9.  13).  But 
in  the  voluminous  discussions  centering  about  this  idea,  the 
kingdom  of  God  seems  frequently  to  be  synonymous  with  the 
church. 

The  church  was  created  before  all  things  {Vis.  2.4).  "But 
the  tower  in  building  is  the  church ;  ye  shall  be  purified,  and 
shall  be  useful  as  stones  for  its  building.  The  white  portion  is 
the  coming  age,  in  which  the  elect  of  God  shall  dwell"  (4.  3). 
Life  is  for  all  that  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord :  all  the 
righteous  and  repentant  have  their  dwelling  within  the  tower. 
The  penitent  had  their  dwelling  placed  within  the  first  walls, 
and  some  of  them  even  ascended  into  the  tower  {Sim.  8.  7  ; 
8.10;  8.6). 

The  tower  is  built  upon  the  rock  and  upon  the  gate  :  it  is 
made  a  single  stone  with  the  rock  (9.  15,  13).  This  rock  and  gate 
is  the  Son  of  God  ;  the  rock  is  ancient  and  the  gate  recent  :  being 
made  recent  in  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  that  they  who  are 
to   be  saved   ma}'   enter  through    it  into  the  kingdom   of  God. 

105 


18  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

Only  the  stones  which  come  through  the  gate  go  to  the  build- 
ing of  the  tower  ;  thus  no  one  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God,  except  he  receive  the  name  of  his  Son.  The  builders  of 
the  tower  are  angels,  by  whom  the  Lord  is  walled  about.  But 
the  gate  is  the  Son  of  God  ;  there  is  this  one  entrance  to  the 
Lord,  to  the  kingdom  of  God  (9.12).  Those  who  believe 
shall  become  one  spirit  and  one  body  (9.13). 

But  some,  having  been  placed  in  the  tower,  after  a  time 
were  enticed,  and  were  cast  away  from  the  house  of  God. 
There  was  therefore  a  cessation  in  the  building,  that,  if  these 
repent,  they  may  go  into  the  building  of  the  tower  ;  thus  God 
"  restored  our  life  "  (9.14).  The  evil  shall  be  cast  out  and  the 
church  of  God  purified  ;  there  shall  be  one  body  of  them  that 
are  purified,  just  as  the  tower  when  purified  became  made  as  it 
were  of  one  stone.  It  is  hard  for  such  as  go  astray  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God  ;  but,  if  they  repent  and  do  good,  they 
shall  live  unto  God.  Let  them  do  so  speedily,  before  the  tower 
is  completed.  The  righteous  dwell,  without  doubt,  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  But  the  other  stones,  which  have  remained 
round  and  have  not  been  fitted  into  the  building,  have  been 
put  back  into  their  place.  For  this  world  and  its  vanities  must 
be  cut  from  off  them,  and  then  they  will  fit  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  (9  .  16,  18,  20,  26,  29,  31).  The  last  statement  is  obviously 
a  reference  to  the  tower,  or  church,  under  the  name  of  the 
kingdom. 

There  is  thus  in  the  Shepherd  no  distinct  and  consistent  idea 
of  the  kingdom  ;  but  it  is  significant  that  this  composition, 
which  was  long  treated  as  a  part  of  Scripture  and  had  large 
influence  upon  later  Fathers,  so  closely  interweaves  the  idea  of 
the  church  with  that  of  the  kingdom  as  to  make  them  prac- 
tically interchangeable.  The  most  important  note  of  time  as 
connected  with  the  kingdom  is  the  urgent  call  to  repent  before 
the  completion  of  the  tower.  To  enter  into  the  kingdom  is 
parallel  with  living  unto  God.  The  figure  of  the  building 
recalls  Paul's  temple  of  God,  and  Peter's  living  stones  built 
upon  the  Rock. 

Ignatius  declares  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Phtlippiafis,  3:    "If  any 

106 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  19 

man  followeth  one  that  maketh  a  schism,  he  doth  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God."  In  the  Martyrdom  of  Ignatius  (perhaps  genu- 
ine) he  is  reported  as  saying  :  "  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God, 
whose  kingdom  may  I  enjoy  "  (  2).  Polycarp,  Ep.  to  the  Philip- 
piaiis,  in  sees.  2  and  5,  quotes  i  Cor.  6:10,  and  Matt.  5  :  3  and 
10  in  part  both  apparently  with  an  eschatological  reference. 
The  Smyrnaeans  pray  in  The  Martyrdom  of  Polycarp,  20:  "May  it  be 
our  lot  to  be  found  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ;"  and  in  22: 
"That  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  gather  me  also  with  his  elect 
into  his  heavenly  kingdom."  ARisriCES  says  in  the  Apology,  16: 
"Verily  this  is  the  way  of  the  truth  which  leads  those  who  travel 
therein  to  the  everlasting  kingdom  promised  through  Christ  in 
the  life  to  come."  The  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  9,  very  beautifully 
prays  :  "  that  ....  we  might  now  be  made  deserving  by  the 
goodness  of  God,  and  having  made  clear  our  inability  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God  by  ourselves,  might  be  enabled  by  the  ability 
of  God."  This  of  itself  might  look  like  a  reference  to  the  kingdom 
as  a  present  reality,  but  in  the  next  section  (10)  the  reference  to 
the  heavenly  kingdom  is  plain  :  "  For  God  loved  men  for 
whose  sake  he  made  the  world,  ....  to  whom  he  promised  the 
kingdom  which  is  in  heaven,  and  will  give  it  to  those  that  have 
loved  him."  The  references  in  this  paragraph  are  to  the  king- 
dom as  a  place  of  future  reward  or  bliss,  either  terrestrial 
(eschatological)  or  celestial.  The  second  reference  from  the 
Martyrdom  of  Polycarp  and  the  second  from  the  Epistle  to  Diog- 
netus are  clearly  celestial  (<r/.  2  Tim.  4:18):  and  the  proba- 
bility is  somewhat  strong  that  this  is  the  prevailing  reference  of 
the  group,  it  being  regarded  eschatologically  and  as  even  now 
existent  in  heaven. 

The  millennial  notions  of  Papias  are  found  in  fragments  in 
other  writers.  Eusebius  {^Ch.  Hist.  3.39)  refers  to  the  state- 
ments "  of  a  somewhat  mythical  character,  among  which  he 
says  that  there  will  be  a  period  of  some  (ten)  thousand  years 
after  the  resurrection,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  be 
set  up  in  material  form  on  this  earth.  These  ideas  I  suppose  he 
got  through  a  misunderstanding  of  the  apostolic  accounts," 
etc.     Jerome,   in    his   Illustrious  Me?i,    18,   speaks  of   Papias   as 

107 


20  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

having  promulgated  the  Jewish  tradition  ot  a  millennium,  teach- 
ing that  after  the  resurrection  the  Lord  will  reign  in  the  flesh 
with  the  saints.  Irenaeus  also  {^Heresies,  5.33)  quotes  Papias 
as  saying:  "The  days  will  come  in  which  vines  shall  grow  each 
having  ten  thousand  shoots,  and  on  each  shoot  ten  thousand 
branches,"  etc.  Maximus  Confessor  and  Photius  (Lightfoot,  p. 
534)  refer  to  Papias  as  having  mentioned  material  viands  among 
the  anticipated  joys  of  the  kingdom. 

In  the  Rcliques  of  the  Elders  preserved  in  Irenaeus,  4.  27  :  "  He 
said  this  ( i  Cor.  6  : 9  f.) ,  not  to  those  who  are  without,  but  to  us, 
lest  we  be  cast  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God,"  etc.  "Without" 
here  seems  to  mean  outside  the  Christian  circle,  and  the  kingdom 
to  be  the  future  state  of  reward  on  earth  or  in  heaven.  In  5.  36 
gradations  in  the  heavenly  reward  are  indicated  :  "The  Elders 
say  that  this  is  the  distinction  between  the  habitations  of  them 
that  bring  forth  a  hundred-fold,  and  of  them  that  bring  forth 
sixty  and  thirty  :  the  first  shall  be  taken  up  into  the  heavens,  and 
the  second  shall  dwell  in  Paradise,  and  the  third  shall  inhabit  the 
city;  and  that  therefore  our  Lord  said,  'In  my  Father's  house 
are  many  mansions.'  " 

The  apostolic  Fathers  contain  fifty-two  references  to  the  king- 
dom, among  which  are  ten  quotations  from  the  New  Testament. 
The  phrase  "kingdom  of  God"  occurs  twenty-seven  times,  while 
"kingdom  of  heaven"  is  not  used.'  In  this  first  period,  extend- 
ing to  about  150  A.  D.,  the  view  of  the  kingdom  on  the  whole 
resembles  that  of  the  apostles,  with  notable  development  as  to 
definiteness  of  place  —  on  the  one  hand  millennial  on  earth,  on  the 
other  celestial.  Indications  of  a  possibly  non-eschatological 
view  of  the  kingdom  linger  apparently  only  in  the  Shepherd, 
in  which  there  is  that  vague  intermingling  of  the  ideas  of  the 
kingdom  and  the  church,  which,  as  remarked  above,  was  widely 
influential  in  later  times. 

■In  the  whole  patristic  period  the  phrase  "kingdom  of  heaven  "  occurs  three  times 
where  the  phrase  "kingdom  of  God"  occurs  twice;  the  relative  usage  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  P'athers  being  much  the  same.  See  Schiher,  History  of  the  Jewish  People,  Div.  2, 
Vol.  II,  p.  171,  and  notes. 


108 


PERIOD  II.     THE  ANTE-NICENE  FATHERS 

SUBSEQUENT  TO  THE  APOSTOLIC. 

A.— GREEK. 

CHAPTER  III. 

JUSTIN    MARTYR,    IRENiEUS,    AND    HIPPOLYTUS. 

I.  Justin  Martyr,  the  great  apologist  of  the  second 
century,  says  in  his  First  Apology,  ii  :  "And  when  you  hear  that 
we  look  for  a  kingdom,  you  suppose,  without  making  any  inquiry, 
that  we  speak  of  a  human  kingdom  ;  whereas  we  speak  of  that 
which  is  with  God,  as  appears  also  from  the  confession.^  For  if 
we  looked  for  a  human  kingdom,  we  should  also  deny  our  Christ, 
that  we  might  not  be  slain  ....  But  since  our  thoughts  are 
not  on  the  present,  we  are  not  concerned  when  men  cut  us  off." 
Here  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  is  eschatological.  The  kingdom 
is  "with  God,"  waiting  to  be  manifested  in  the  future.  Only 
the  regenerate  shall  see  it  (15.61).  In  the  Dialogue  with 
Trypho,  the  Jew,  the  kingdom  is  treated  as  the  millennium. 
"Christ  is  King,  and  is  preached  as  having  the  everlasting 
kingdom;  so  I  prove  from  all  the  Scriptures"  (34).  In  chap. 
39,  Trypho  says:  "You  have  proved  from  the  Scriptures 
that  Christ  must  suffer,  and  come  again  with  glory,  and 
receive  the  eternal  kingdom  over  all  the  nations,  every  kingdom 
being  made  subject  to  him  ;  now  show  us  that  this  man  is  He." 
In  chap.  51,  Justin  says:    "Christ  preached  also  Himself,  saying 

that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand Moreover,  he  referred 

to  the  fact  that  there  would  be  no  longer  in  your  nation  any 
prophet,  and  to  the  fact  that  men  recognized  that  the  new  cove- 
nant, which  God  formerly  (promised),  was  then  present,  i.  e., 
Christ  himself;  and  in  the  following  terms:  'The  law  and  the 
prophets  were  until  John  ;  from  that  time  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
suffereth  violence,'  "  etc.  The  main  thought  of  this  involved  pas- 
sage is  that  Christ  is  king:  the  kingdom  is  his.     "There  will  be 

*Cf.  the  confession  in  the  Apos.  Constitutions,  p.  31. 
109]  21 


22  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

a  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  a  thousand  years  in  Jerusalem  ; 
the  everlasting  and  imperishable  kingdom  with  Christ  is  to  be 
enjoyed  in  this  same  land,  a  future  possession  for  all  the  saints" 
(79.  117,  139). 

Justin's  idea  of  the  kingdom  is  thus  eschatological,  in  the 
millennial  form. 

2.  In  IreN/Eus,  also,  we  find  millennial  views:  Christ  shall 
introduce  an  eternal  kingdom,  which  is  the  resurrection  of  the 
just.  In  the  times  of  the  kingdom  the  righteous  man  on  earth 
shall  forget  to  die;  there  shall  be  an  inheritance  in  the  kingdom 
of  the  earth,  foreseen  hy]oh.w{  Against  Heresies,  Book  5,  chaps.  26, 
36).  In  the  peaceful  times  of  the  kingdom  the  Spirit  of  God 
shall  vivify  and  increase  mankind  (4.  20).  And  yet  Christ's 
kingdom  is  now  existent  in  heaven,  for  "he  sent  on  before  into 
his  kingdom  the  infants  slain  at  Bethlehem"  (3.  16).  It  is  also 
here  on  earth,  for  the  "new  treasure"  of  the  kingdom  in  Matt. 
13  :52,  is  "the  manner  of  life  required  by  the  gospel"  (4-9)- 
Christ  by  the  apostles  announced  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
had  drawn  nigh,  and  that  he  was  dwelling  within  those  that 
believe  (3.  21).  It  is  clear  that  those  who  disallow  his  salvation, 
and  frame  an  idea  of  another  God  beside  him  who  made  the 
promise  to  Abraham,  are  outside  the  kingdom  of  God,  blasphem- 
ing God,  who  introduces  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  Abraham  and  his  seed,  the  church  (4.  8).  The 
"violent"  seize  the  kingdom  by  strong  and  earnest  striving. 
The  heavenly  kingdom  is  honorable  to  those  who  have  known 
the  earthly  one.  The  church,  fashioned  after  the  image  of  the 
Son,  is  designed  to  bring  man  to  perfection  (4.  37).  By  means 
of  the  earthly  kingdom,  which  is  the  commencement  of  incor- 
ruptibleness,  those  who  shall  be  worthy  are  accustomed  gradually 
to  receive  God  [capere  Deum,  5.  22). 

Irenaeus  thus  recognized  at  least  two  kingdoms  of  Christ,  the 
"heavenly"  and  the  "earthly."  It  is  not  quite  clear  whether 
he  thinks  of  the  church  as  the  earthly  kingdom,  or  as  one  phase 
or  portion  of  it.  The  earthly  kingdom  is  either  now  existent 
in  connection  with  the  church  ;  or,  perhaps,  to  be  first  realized 
after  the  resurrection  as  the  prelude    to    the   eternal    heavenly 

110 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  23 

kingdom.  In  the  references  cited  from  4.  8  and  4.  9  Irenaeus 
seems  to  regard  the  kingdom  as  in  some  sense  the  state  of 
salvation. 

3.  HiPPOLYTUS,  in  the  Fragments  on  Daniel,  says:  "  There  is 
nothing  stable  among  men,  but  only  that  which  is  the  appointed 
end  of  all  things  —  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  500  years  from  the 
birth  of  Christ  the  end  shall  be."  Commenting  on  7:  17,  he  says: 
"After  the  fourth  beast  is  removed,  earthly  things  shall  end,  and 
heavenly  things  begin ;  that  the  indissoluble  and  everlasting 
kingdom  of  the  saints  may  be  brought  to  view,  and  the  King 
coming  from  heaven  as  the  world's  judge ;"  and  on  22:  "He 
shall  consume  all  with  the  eternal  fire  of  punishment.  But  to  his 
servants  he  will  give  an  everlasting  kingdom  :  i.  e.,  they  shall 
possess  the  endless  enjoyment  of  good."  In  his  treatise  On  Christ 
and Anii- Christ,  5,  he  bids  Christians:  "Find  out  from  the  Scriptures 
what  the  conflagration  of  the  whole  world  shall  be,  and  what  the 
glorious  and  heavenly  kingdom  of  the  saints  is  to  be  when  they 
reign  together  with  Christ."  In  the  Fragmejit  on  Daniel,  7:27  f., 
he  makes  the  Sabbath  "the  true  type  and  emblem  of  the  future 
kingdom  of  the  saints,  when  Christ  shall  come  from  heaven  and 
they  shall  reign  with  him,  as  John  says  in  the  Apocalypse,"  etc. 
In  these  references  we  observe  that  the  kingdom  is  to 
ensue  on  the  destruction  of  the  earth.  In  the  Refutation  of  all 
Heresies,  Book  9,  chap.  7,  it  is  a  future  reward:  " Thou  shalt  possess 
an  immortal  body,  and  receive  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  thou  who, 
while  thou  didst  sojourn  in  life,  didst  know  the  Celestial  King." 
It  is  significant  that  Hippolytus  interprets  the  parable  of  the  tares 
as  referring  to  the  church  (Book  9,  chap.  4). 

In  discussing  and  refuting  the  heretical  notions  of  the  Ophites 
(Book  5,  chaps.  2-4) ,  the  following  phrases,  which  indicate  that 
the  inner,  subjective  view  of  the  kingdom  was  known  among 
heretics,  occur  in  obscure  connection:  "the  kingdom  of  heaven 
to  be  sought  for  within  a  man,"  and  "the  kingdom  of  heaven  that 
reposes  within  us  as  a  treasure,  as  leaven  hid  in  the  meal. "  Perhaps 
the  most  curious  definition  of  the  kingdom  to  be  found  anywhere 
is  in  this  quotation  from  the  teaching  of  the  sect  just  named : 
"That  which  is  nothing,  and  which  consists  of  nothing,  inasmuch 

111 


24  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

as  it  is  indivisible  —  a  point  —  will  become  through  its  own  reflec- 
tive power  a  certain  incomprehensible  magnitude.  This,  he  says, 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  grain  of  mustard  seed,  the  point 
which  is  indivisible  in  the  body  ;  and,  he  says,  no  one  knows  this 
[point]  save  the  spiritual  only." 


112 


CHAPTER  IV. 
CLEMENT    OF    ALEXANDRIA,    ORIGEN.  AND    METHODIUS. 

I.  Clement  of  Alexandria.  —  The  views  of  this  church 
Father  may  be  seen  from  the  following  quotations,  "A  stranger 
is  permitted  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  when  he  is  enrolled 
and  made  a  citizen  ....  made  an  heir  of  God,  to  share  God's 
kingdom  with  the  Son.  This  is  the  first-born  church  ....  these 
are  the  first-born  enrolled  in  heaven,  who  hold  high  festival  with 
angels  "  {^Exhortation  to  the  Heathe7i,  chap.  9) .  He  promises  us 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  a  reward  for  learning  (chap.  i).  He  is 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  who  shall  do  and  teach  :  imitating  God 
in  conferring  like  benefits  [Stromata,  2.19).  It  is  to  the  violent 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  belongs.  The  violent  that  storm  the 
kingdom  are  not  so  in  disputations  ;  but  by  continuance  in  a  right 
life  and  unceasing  prayers  are  said  to  take  it  by  force.  For 
this  alone  is  commendable  violence,  to  take  life  from  God  by 
force  [Strom.  4.  2  :  Quis  Dives,  21).  The  least  in  the  kingdom, 
i.  e.,  His  own  disciple,  is  greater  than  John.  "Abandon  the  alien 
possessions  that  are  in  thy  soul,  that,  becoming  pure  in  heart, 
thou  mayest  see  God,  which  is  another  way  of  saying  :  Enter 
into  the   kingdom  of  heaven"  [Qiiis  Dives,  31  and  19). 

In  these  references  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  as  the  Christian 
community  is  conspicuous,  while  there  is  frequent  quotation 
of  Scripture  which  refers  to  the  kingdom  as  an  inheritance  of 
the  future,  as  i  Cor.  6:9  and  Matt.  25  :  34.  He  quotes  the 
two  references  in  chaps.  42  and  50  of  Clement  of  Rome.  The 
kingdom  is  a  reward  of  the  present  as  well  as  of  the  future.  By 
metonymy  there  is  a  notable  application  of  the  spiritual  qualities 
which  characterize  the  kingdom  :  to  take  the  kingdom  by  force 
is  to  take  life  from  God  ;  to  be  pure  in  heart  is  to  enter  the  king- 
dom, which,  accordingly,  seems  to  be  regarded  as  the  state  of 
salvation. 

The  relation  of  church  to  kingdom  is  suggestively  referred  to. 
"  False  teachers  by  a  perverse  use  of  the  divine  words  neither 
113]  25 


26  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  nor  permit  those  whom  they 
have  deluded  to  attain  the  truth.  Not  having  the  true  key,  they 
do  not  enter  as  we  do,  through  the  tradition  of  the  Lord,  but  dig 
through  the  wall  of  the  church,  and  step  over  the  truth,"  etc. 
{Stromata,  7.  17).  As  Clement  has  just  said  that  these  do  not 
enter  into  the  kingdom,  he  seems  to  distinguish  between  the 
kingdom  and  the  church,  while  implying  that  entrance  through 
the  door  into  the  church  would  bring  one  also  into  the  kingdom. 
The  germ  of  the  idea  of  the  invisible  church  is  evident.  Con- 
nected with  this  is  the  statement  in  4.  2  :  "The  earthly  church 
is  the  image  of  the  heavenly,"  whose  influence  may  be  traced  in 
Origen  and  others. 

2.  Origen. — In  his  First  Principles,  1.3,  6,  he  holds  "That 
all  men  have  communion  with  God,  Christ's  words  teach,  Luke 
17:20,21:  'The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.'  And  if  Genesis 
2  :7  be  understood  as  applying  generally  to  all  men,  then  all  men 
have  a  share  in  God.  The  kingdom  is  in  all  men  potentially" 
(see  below).  Here  for  the  first  time  we  meet  with  the  abstract 
idea,  very  frequent  in  the  subsequent  Fathers,  of  the  kingdom  as 
God's  reign  in  the  soul.  But  the  concrete  idea  is  also  clear 
in  Origen  :  "  Christ  himself  instructs  his  disciples,  that  when 
fully  instructed  he  may  form  them  into  a  kingdom  worthy  of 
God,  and  present  them  to  God  the  Father;  They  do  in  a  sense 
separate  themselves  ....  that  they  may  live  as  citizens  of 
heaven,  coming  to  the  living  God,  and  to  the  city  of  God,  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,"  etc.  {Agai7ist  Celsus,  6.  17). 

In  his  Comme?itary  011  John  these  two  fundamental  ideas  are 
blended.  "  One  is  a  scribe  made  a  disciple  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  in  the  simpler  sense,  when  he  comes  from  Judaism  and 
receives  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  according  to  the  church, 
but  he  is  a  scribe  in  a  deeper  sense  when,  having  received  ele- 
mentary knowledge  through  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures,  he  ascends 
to  things  spiritual,  which  are  called  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens. 
....  He  who  abounds  in  knowledge  free  from  error  is  in  this 
kingdom.  ...  So  far  as  Christ,  God  the  Word,  has  not  his  home 
in  the  soul,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  not  in  it,  but  when  any  one 
becomes  nigh  to  admission  of  the  Word,  to  him  the  kingdom  of 

114 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  27 

heaven  is  nigh  (Book  lo.  14).  Of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  there 
are  as  many  keys  as  there  are  virtues.  .  .  ,  And  perhaps  each 
virtue  also  is  a  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  all  together  are  a  king- 
dom of  the  heavens  ;  so  that  according  to  this  he  is  already  in  the 
kingdom  of  the  heavens  who  lives  according  to  the  virtues. 
Then  '  Repent '  is  to  be  referred  not  to  the  time,  but  to  deeds 
and  dispositions  :  for  Christ,  who  is  all  virtue,  has  come,  and 
speaks,  and  on  account  of  this  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  the 
disciples"  (Book  12.  14).  He  who  beholds  the  excellency  of  the 
Word,  sees  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom  ;  if  he  beholds 
him  also  representing  truth  with  perfect  clearness,  then  he  would 
behold  his  glory  in  addition  to  his  kingdom  :  would  see  in  him 
the  kingdom  of  God  come  with  power  ;  would  see  this,  no  longer 
under  the  reign  of  sin,  but  of  Christ,  who  is  God  of  all,  whose 
kingdom  is  indeed  potentially  "  within  us,"  but  actually  (as 
Mark  expresses  it,  "with  power")  within  the  perfect  alone  (35). 
"The  kingdom  of  heaven  (in  that  very  mystical  parable  Matt. 
18:23)  is  likened  to  a  certain  king.  Who  but  the  Son  of  God? 
For  he  is  the  King  of  the  heavens,  and  as  he  is  absolute  Wisdom 
and  absolute  Righteousness  and  absolute  Truth,  is  he  not  also 
absolute  Kingdom  ?....'  Theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven '  ; 
you  may  say  that  Christ  is  theirs  in  so  far  as  he  is  absolute 
Kingdom,  reigning  in  every  thought  of  the  man  who  is  no  longer 
under  the  reign  of  sin"  (Book  14.7,  14). 

The  kingdom  of  the  future  will  be  celestial.  In  First  Pr ins., 
3.  6,  sees.  8  and  9  :  "There  will  be  another  earth,  which  receives 
into  it  all  the  saints,  where  they  may  be  prepared  for  those  bet- 
ter institutions  to  which  no  addition  can  be  made.  For  after  his 
agents  and  servants,  the  Lord  Christ,  who  is  King  of  all,  will 
himself  assume  the  kingdom  ;  i.  e.,  after  instruction  in  the  holy 
virtues,  he  will  himself  instruct  those  who  are  capable  of  receiv- 
ing him  in  respect  of  his  being  Wisdom,  reigning  in  them  until 
he  has  subjected  them  to  the  Father,"  etc.  In  his  Com.  onJoJm, 
Book  10.  II,  28,  he  speaks  of  what  will  take  place  "  in  the  coming 
age  and  in  heaven  when  the  kingdom  of  God  appears  ;  ....  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  Father's  house,  in  which  are  many 
mansions."     In  First  Prins.,  2.  11  and  3.  7:    "The  pure  in  heart, 

115 


28  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

by  more  rapid  progress,  will  quickly  ascend  to  a  place  in  the  air, 
and  reach  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  through  those  mansions,  fol- 
lowing him  who  hath  passed  through  the  heavens,"  etc. 

The  equality  of  the  members  of  the  kingdom  is  emphasized. 
"  Every  one  who  confesses  Christ,  the  judgments  of  that  man 
abide  sure ;  he  has  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  for  bind- 
ing and  loosing ;  for  upon  such  the  church  of  Christ  is  built" 
{^Onjohn,  Book  12.  14).  In  First  Prvis.,  1.3:  "  We  are  even  in 
the  present  life  placed  in  the  church,  in  which  is  the  form  of  that 
kingdom  which  is  to  come"  [cf.  Clement  of  Alex.). 

Origen's  tendency  to  allegorize  is  given  free  play,  as  above  in 
his  use  of  the  Hebraistic  plural  "  the  kingdom  of  the  heavens," 
and  as  when  he  says  that  Peter  received  the  keys  not  of  one 
heaven,  but  of  more  (C;z  Johii,  Book  10.  14).  The  difificulty  in 
understanding  certain  of  his  expressions  is  increased  by  the 
doubt  as  to  the  original  reading.  An  instance  may  be  cited  from 
his  Com.  on  Matthezv,  Book  11.  16:  "The  righteous  indeed  are 
prepared  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  for  the  exaltation  in  the 
kingdom  of  God;  "  yet  he  says  {On  John,  10.  14)  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  are  the  same.  Origen's 
regard  for  knowledge,  while  profound,  is  ever  subservient  to  the 
ethical  aim,  as  in  his  work  Against  Celstis,  8.  1 1  :  "We  desire 
not  only  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  divine  kingdom  of 
which  we  are  continually  speaking  and  writing,  but  to  be  of  those 
who  are  under  the  rule  of  God  alone,  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
may  be  ours." 

3.  Methodius. —  This  writer  defines  the  kingdom  as  eternal 
life.  "When  Paul  says  that  flesh  and  blood  shall  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God,  he  does  not  give  a  disparaging  opinion  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  flesh,  but  would  teach  that  the  kingdom  of 
God,  which  is  eternal  life,  is  not  possessed  by  the  body,  but  the 

body  by  the  life The  kingdom  of   God,  which   is   life," 

etc.  {On  the  Resurrection,  13).  He  does  not  expressly  say 
whether  he  regards  eternal  life  as  a  present  possession,  but  there 
can  be  little  question  that  his  prevailing  conception  is  eschato- 
logical. 

The  idea  of  the  kingdom  as  a  reward  is  prominent,  as  where 
116 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  29 

he  distinguishes  the  church  from  the  kingdom  in  his  Oration  on 
Simeon  and  Anna,  13:  "  Hail  to  thee,  Catholic  Church,  which  hast 
been  planted  in  all  the  earth  ;  .  .  .  .  fear  not,  little  flock,  for  it 
is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom."  In  the 
Banquet,  Discourse  7.  3,  referring  to  the  Beatitudes  :  "The  Lord 
promises  different  honors;  to  some,  that  they  shall  be  numbered 
in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven ;  to  others,  the  inheritance  of  the 
earth,  and  to  others  to  see  the  Father."  The  language  of  these 
last  two  quotations  does  not  forbid  the  kingdom  being  thought 
of  as  a  spiritual  reward  to  be  realized  in  the  present  life  ;  the 
eschatological  idea,  however,  is  evident  in  such  passages  as  the 
following  :  "  That  which  is  perfect  has  not  yet  come  to  us, 
namely,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the  resurrection  ;   .   .   .   .  let  us 

strive  for  a  life  of  blessedness  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven 

come  into  the  temple  and  city  of  God."    (Ba?igtiet,  Disc.  9.  2,  5; 

8.4.) 

We  meet  first  in  Methodius  with  the  definite  statement  that 
"  The  kingdom  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  one,  even  as  their  substance  is  one  and  their  dominion  one." 
{^Oration  on  Psalms,  5.) 


117 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE    APOCRYPHAL    WRITINGS,    THE    APOSTOLIC    CONSTITUTIONS,    AND 

THE    CLEMENTINES. 

1 .  The  Apocryphal  Writings  contain  about  thirty  references  to 
the  kingdom,  distributed  among  three  gospels,  eleven  books  of 
Acts,  and  three  revelations,  or  visions.  They  are  frequently 
indefinite  ;  their  general  tone  is  millennial.  "  When  Christ  shall 
come  to  reign  with  his  saints  a  thousand  years  the  first  earth  will 
be  dissolved,  and  this  land  of  promise  then  revealed"  {Vision  of 
Paul) .  The  History  of  Joseph  the  Carpenter  speaks  of  the  banquet 
of  the  thousand  years;  and  the  Vision  of  John  contains  the  unique 
declaration  that  "  the  whole  world  and  Paradise  shall  be  made 
one,  and  the  righteous  shall  be  on  the  face  of  all  the  earth  with 
my  angels,  Ps.  37:29."  The  prayer  of  the  thief  on  the  cross  is 
several  times  given  in  the  form,  "When  Thou  shalt  reign,"  or 
"  become  king." 

In  the  Martyrdom  of  Bartholomeiv  God's  kingdom  is  said  to 
exist  in  heaven.  In  one  MS.  of  the  Acts  of  Thomas  occur  these 
sentences  :     "  I   rejoice  with  you,  that  you  are  made  partakers 

of  His  kingdom Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  to  whom 

is  due  all  glory  and  kingdom  without  end."  The  Gospel  of 
Nicodemus  says:  "  Of  those  who  have  believed  on  Him,  their 
kingdom  shall  endure  forever."  The  two  following  references 
are  peculiar:  Jesus  says  in  the  Acts  a7id  Martyrdom  of  Mattheiv: 
"I  am  Paradise,  I  am  the  Comforter,  ....  I  the  foundation 
of  the  church,  I  the  kingdom  of  the  bishops,"  etc.,  and  in  the 
Revelation  of  Moses  God  says  to  Adam,  who  is  lying  on  the  ground 
in  Paradise:  "  I  will  set  thee  in  thy  kingdom,  on  the  throne  of 
him  that  deceived  thee." 

2.  The  Apostolic  Constitutiotrs. —  In  these  there  is  about  the 
same  number  of  references  to  the  kingdom  as  in  the  apocryphal 
writings,  mostly  eschatological,  as  "  That  ye  may  become  partak- 
ers of  immortality  and  partners  of  the  kingdom  of  God,"  in  Book 
6.  30;  and  "  Preserve  us  unto  His  heavenly  kingdom,"  8.  lO,  per- 
ils ]  30 


KINGDOM    OP    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  31 

haps  celestial.  The  kingdom  is  also  intimately  connected  with 
Christ,  as  in  Book  7.  32  :  "They  shall  rejoice  in  the  kingdom  of 
God,  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ."  It  seems  to  be  viewed  as  a  present 
possession  in  Book  5.  16  :  "The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken 
from  them;  ....  having  given  the  kingdom  to  you,  he  expects 
the  fruits  of  your  gratitude  and  piety."  In  7.  25  and  26  the 
prayer  "  Gather  together  thy  church  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  " 
twice  occurs  as  in  the  Didac/u'  ioWowed  by,  "Let  this  thy  king- 
dom come,"  which  may  signify  God's  universal  reign  on  earth, 
but  in  any  case  is  eschatological.  The  baptismal  confession 
is  given  in  7.41:  "I  am  baptized  into  the  resurrection  of 
the  flesh,  and  into  the  remission  of  sins,  and  into  the  king- 
dom   of  heaven,    and    into    the  life    of    the  world    to    come." 

In  8.    7:      "  Pray  that being  initiated  into  the   death  of 

Christ,  they  may  rise  with  him,  and  become  partakers  of 
his  kingdom,  and  may  be  admitted  to  the  communion  of  his 
mysteries:  unite  them  to,  number  them  among,  those  that  are 
saved  in  his  holy  church."  While  the  reader  is,  on  the  whole, 
strongly  reminded  in  the  Coiistitutioiis  of  the  tone  of  the  apostles, 
there  seems  to  be  an  advance  toward  a  closer  relation  between  the 
church  and  the  kingdom. 

3.  The  Clementhies. — About  eighty-five  references  to  the  king- 
dom occur  in  these  writings,  with  only  two  Scriptural  quotations, 
which  fact  may  indicate  a  comparatively  early  date. 

A.  The  Homilies. — "  The  whole  business  of  the  church  is  like 
unto  a  ship  bearing  through  a  violent  storm  men  of  many  places 
who  desire  toinhabitthe  city  of  the  good  kingdom  "  (the  so-called 
Epistle  of  Clement  to  James,  14).  In  Homily  i.  18,  19:  "The  key 
of  the  kingdom,  which  is  knowledge,  which  alone  can  open  the 

gate  of  life If  anyone    end   this   life    in    real   ignorance 

he  is  rejected  from  the  kingdom  of  God." 

"God  gave  two  kingdoms  to  two  (beings),  good  and  evil;  to 
the  evil,  .  .  .  the  present  world  along  with  law,  to  punish,  etc.; 
to  the  good,  the  eternal  age  to  come.  The  boundary  line  of  the 
two  kings  is  the  having  or  not  having  possessions"  {^Hom.,  15.7, 
9).  Here  the  ascetic  tone  is  noticeable,  as  also  in  the  follow- 
ing:     "  Christ,  being  thought  worthy  to  be  king  of  the  world   to 

119 


32  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

come,  (fights   against)    him   who  by  predestination   has  usurped 

the  kingdom  that  now  is But  those  who  have  determined 

to  accept  the  blessings  of  the  future  reign  have  no  right  to  regard 
as  their  own  the  things  that  are  here,  except  such  as  necessary 

food,  since  they  belong  to  a  foreign  king Two  kingdoms 

have  been  established;  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the  kingdom 

of  the  present  kings  of  the  earth The  evil  king  rejoices 

in  the  destruction  of  the  wicked.  But  the  good  one,  the  king 
of  the  age  to  come,  loves  the  whole  nature  of  man;  but  not  being 
able  to  have  boldness  in  the  present  world  he  counsels  what  is 
advantageous,  like  one  who  tries  to  conceal  what  he  really  is  " 
{Horn.,  3.  19;  15.  7;  20.  2).  This  peculiar  ethical  view  of  expe- 
diency is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  doctrine  of  the  kingdom.  In 
the  Homilies  the  kingdom  is  always  eschatological. 

B.  The  Recognitio7is  also  have  much  to  say  about  the  "two 
kingdoms,"  the  one  evil  and  present,  the  other  good  and  of  the 
future.  The  latter  seems  to  be  regarded  as  the  kingdom  of  God, 
but  the  idea  is  not  clear  and  consistent.  In  1.24  there  seems  to 
be  at  first  sight  a  recognition  of  the  social  idea:  "From  the 
multitude  came  the  election  of  the  beloved,  from  whose  oneness 
of  mind  the  peaceful  kingdom  of  God  is  constructed."  But 
this  composition  of  the  kingdom  is  evidently  not  thought  of  as 
now  in  progress  on  earth,  for  a  little  farther  on  we  read:  "He 
established  two  kingdoms,  that  of  the  present  time  and  that  of 
the  future,  and  appointed  times  to  each,  ....  and  a  day  of 
judgment,  in  which  is  to  be  made  a  severance  of  things  and  of 
souls ;  so  that  the  wicked  shall  be  consigned  to  eternal  fire, 
....  but  those  who  have  lived  according  to  the  will  of  God, 
introduced  into  an  eternal  abode,  shall  receive  eternal  gifts" 
etc.  Again  in  5:9:  "From  the  beginning,  as  we  have  said, 
God  instituted  two  kingdoms,  and  has  given  to  each  man  the 
power  of  becoming  a  portion  of  that  kingdom  to  which  he  shall 
yield  himself  to  obey.  And  since  it  is  decreed  by  God  that  no 
one  man  can  be  a  servant  of  both  kingdoms,  ....  be  earnest  to 
betake  yourself  to  the  covenant  and  laws  of  the  good  King." 
The  kingdom  is  eschatological  and  celestial  :  "The  condition  of 
this  world   shall   pass  away   that  the   sublime    condition  of  the 

120 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHEES  33 

heavenly  kingdom  may  shine  forth  "  (3,  28,  29).  "The  city  is 
the  kingdom  in  which  dwells  the  Almighty  Father"  (2.  22). 
"If  the  soul  at  death  is  ignorant  of  God,  it  is  driven  forth  from 
the  light  of  his  kingdom  "  (5.18).  "  At  his  second  coming  he 
shall  take  the  pious  into  a  share  and  association  with  himself  in 
his  kingdom"    (i  .  49). 

But  are  the  righteous  while  on  earth  in  no  sense  in  God's 
kingdom  ?  There  seems  to  be  a  wavering  on  this  point,  as  if 
the  Recognitions  were  reluctant  to  let  this  idea  merge  wholly  in 
the  eschatological.  In  1.51,  52,  as  to  those  who  die  before 
Christ's  coming  :  "  Know  then  that  Christ  was  ever  present  with 
the  pious,  though  secretly,  ....  especially  those  who  waited 
for  him,  to  whom  he  frequently  appeared Others,  trans- 
lated   to    Paradise,    should    be    kept    for    the    kingdom 

Blessed  are  all  who  shall  attain  to  the  kingdom."  In  8.55: 
"God,  foreseeing  that  some  men  would  incline  to  good,  .... 
assigned  those  who  would  choose  the  good  to  his  own  govern- 
ment and  his  own  care,  and  called  them  his  peculiar  inheritance; 
but  the  evil  to  certain  angels,"  etc.  In  9.  3:  "  God  by  his  Son 
created  the  world  as  a  double  house,  separated  by  this  firmament 
which  is  called  heaven  ;  and  appointed  angelic  powers  to  dwell 
in  the  higher,  and  a  multitude  of  men  to  be  born  in  this  visible 
world,  from  among  whom  he  might  choose  friends  for  his  Son, 

prepared  for  him  as  a  bride But  even  till  the  time  of  the 

marriage,  which  is  the  manifestation  of  the  world  to  come,  he 
has  appointed  a  certain  power,  to  choose  out  and  watch  over 
the  good  ones  of  those  who  are  born  in  this  world,  and  to  pre- 
serve them  for  his  Son,  set  apart  in  a  certain  place  of  the  world, 
which  is  without  sin  ;  in  which  there  are  already  some,  who  are 
there  being  prepared,  as  I  said,  as  a  bride,"  etc.  These  refer- 
ences suggest  the  idea  of  a  sort  of  intermediate  state,  as  it  were 
a  transitional  form  of  the  kingdom,  perhaps  blended  with  a  vague 
notion  akin  to  that  of  the  invisible  church.  Certain  of  Hilary's 
ideas  have  here  a  point  of  contact. 

In  1.45  occurs  a  curious  blending  of  the  figurative  and  the 
literal,  referring  evidently  to  the  future  kingdom:  "Christ 
anoints  with  oil  every  one  of   the    pious  when  they  come  to  his 

121 


34  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

kingdom,  for  their  refreshment  after  their  labors,  as  having  got 
over  the  difficulties  of  the  way  ;  so  that  their  light  may  shine, 
and  being  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  may  be  endowed 
with  immortality." 

The  kingdom  is  thought  of  as  a  reward  or  treasure,  rather 
than  the  Christian  society,  in  the  following  :  "The  first  duty  of 
all  is  to  inquire  into  the  righteousness  of  God  and  his  kingdom  ; 
his  righteousness,  that  we  may  be  taught  to  act  rightly  ;  his 
kingdom,  that  we  may  know  what  is  the  reward  appointed  for 
labor  and  patience  "  (2.  20).  In  3  .  41  the  exhortation  is  given 
to  "seek  first  his  righteousness,"  omitting  "kingdom."  God 
has  concealed  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  that  which  is  profitable  to 
men,  as  a  secret  treasure,  reporting  it  under  various  names 
throughout  the  ages,  that  all  lovers  of  good  might  seek  and  find 
it  in  him.  He  who  truly  loves  this  possession  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  will  cast  away  evil  practices,  or  fail  to  possess  the 
heavenly  kingdom;  for  it  is  foolish  to  love  anything  more  than 
God,  neglecting  one's  own  salvation  (3.53)-  ^^^^  ^he  king- 
dom is  the  supreme  good,  the  way  of  salvation,  with  the  empha- 
sis more  upon  the  individual  than  the  social  side. 


122 


CHAPTER   VI. 
THE    LITURGIES    AND    MINOR    GREEK    FATHERS. 

I.  The  Liturgies. — In  the  Liturgies  of  James,  of  Mark,  and  of 
the  Apostles,  the  kingdom  in  the  twenty  references  is  usually 
equivalent  to  heaven.  Three  or  four  are  general,  as  in  the 
expression  "  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,"  and  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  In  the  Liturgy  of  James,  44,  the  Prayer  of 
Incense  at  the  Last  Entrance:  "Keep  us  under  the  shadow  of 
thy  wings,  and  count  us  worthy  till  our  last  breath  to  partake  of 
thy  holy  rites  for  the  sanctification  of  our  souls  and  bodies,  for 
the  inheritance  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  etc.  The  Liturgy  of 
the  Holy  Apostles,  13  :  "Bless  this  oblation,  ....  and  may  it 
be  unto  us  ....  for  propitiation  and  forgiveness,  ....  and 
for  a  grand  hope  of  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  for  a  new 
life  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  In  20,  the  Obsignation  or  Final 
Benediction:  "May  Christ  himself  render  us  worthy  of  the 
splendid  glory  of  his  kingdom,"  etc.  In  the  prayer  of  the  same 
section  (20)  said  on  the  Lord's  Day  and  on  feast  days,  the  king- 
dom is  probably  also  celestial,  though  ambiguous:  "May  he 
himself  who  blessed  us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  the  heavens, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  prepared  us  for  his  kingdom, 
and  called  us  to  the  desirable  good  things  which  neither  cease 
nor  perish,  as  he  promised,  ....  bless  this  congregation," 
etc.  The  same  may  be  observed  of  the  two  following:  In  18, 
the  priest  begins  to  break  the  bread  and  says :  "  O  Lord,  sanc- 
tify our  lips  through  thy  grace,  that  we  may  give  the  fruits  of 
glory  and  praise  to  thy  divinity,  with  all  thy  saints  in  thy  king- 
dom ; "  and  in  15  :  "Drink  ye  his  chalice  with  faith  in  the  house 
of  his  kingdom." 

The  idea  of  an  intermediate  state  has  a  certain  bearing  upon 
the  thought  of  the  kingdom,  as  in  the  two  following:  In  the 
Prayer  for  the  Dead,  the  Liturgy  of  Mark,  15:  "  Give  peace  to 
the  souls  of  all  who  dwell  in  the  tabernacles  of  thy  saints.  Gra- 
ciously bestow  upon  them  in  thy  kingdom  thy  promised  blessing, 
123]  35 


36  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

which  eye  hath  not  seen  ....  Give  peace  to  their  souls,  and 
deem  them  worthy  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  etc.  In  the 
Liturgy  of  James,  36:  "Remember,  O  Lord,  the  spirits  .... 
from  righteous  Abel  unto  this  day :  unto  them  do  thou  give  rest 
there  in  the  land  of  the  living,  in  thy  kingdom,  in  the  joy  of 
Paradise,  in  the  bosom  of  Abraham,"  etc.  These  prayers  for 
the  dead  seem  to  regard  them  as  not  yet  in  the  celestial  king- 
dom. But  they  are  apparently  even  now,  at  least  some  of  them, 
"in  thy  kingdom,"  "in  Paradise,"  "in  the  tabernacles  of  thy 
saints."  It  seems  probable  that  this  ambiguity  is  in  part  owing 
to  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  state  of  the  departed,  and  that  the 
righteous  dead  are  vaguely  thought  of,  even  before  reaching 
heaven,  or  at  least  the  highest  heaven,  as  "in  thy  kingdom." 

Thus  the  Liturgies,  expressing  the  general  thought  and  feel- 
ing in  worship,  indicate  that  the  kingdom  is  still  conceived  of 
eschatologically. 

2.  The  minor  Greek  Fathers  of  this  period. — Hegesippus  in  The 
Relatives  of  Christ  (Euseb.  Ch.  Hist.  3.  20)  understands  the  king- 
dom as  celestial:  "Being  then  asked  concerning  Christ  and  his 
kingdom,  what  was  its  nature,  and  when  and  where  it  was  to 
appear,  they  answered  that  it  was  not  of  this  world,  nor  of  the 
earth,  but  belonged  to  the  sphere  of  heaven  and  angels,  and 
would  make  its  appearance  at  the  end  of  the  world  (or  age) 
when  he  shall  come  in  glory  to  judge  living  and  dead,  and  ren- 
der to  every  one  according  to  his  course  of  life."  Peter  of 
Alexandria,  Canon  5,  thinks  of  the  kingdom  as  the  new  life  in 
the  soul :  "They  preached  not  only  repentance,  but  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  which,  as  we  have  learned,  is  within  us :  for  the  word 
which  we  believe  is  near  us,  in  our  mouth  and  in  our  heart. 
DiONYSius  OF  Alexandria  is  celebrated  for  his  doubts  concerning 
the  authorship  of  the  Apocalypse,  which  are  candidly  and 
forcibly  expressed,  and  for  his  opposition  to  millennarianism  in 
its  crude  form.  He  says  in  his  Vi'ork  On  the  Promises,  3:  "Ce- 
rinthus  teaches  an  earthly  reign  of  Christ ;  ....  he  fancied  that 
the  kingdom  would  consist  of  sensuous  pleasures,"  etc.  Caius 
also  combated  Cerinthus  in  similar  terms.  Of  Gregory  Thau- 
maturgus  only  the  disputed  writings  refer  to  the  kingdom  ;  in  the 

124 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  37 

First  Homily  occurs  one  of  the  rare  personifications  of  the  king- 
dom:     "Today,  God  invites and  the  heavenly  kingdom 

is  urgent  to  summon  those  who  mind  celestial  things,"  etc.  In 
Horn.  2,  Onthe  Ammnciation:  "By  her  (the  Virgin's)  means  are 
we  called  sons  and  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ."  In  Horn.  4, 
On  the  Holy  Theophany,  Christ  says :  "When  thou  seest  me  cast 
out  demons,  then  hail  my  kingdom  with  adoration."  These  last 
two  references  have  the  evangelical  tone.  Archelaus,  in  his 
Disputation  with  Ma?ies,  speaks  often  of  "the  kingdom  of  the  good 
God,"  and  of  "the  kingdom  of  light,"  and  has  among  other 
curious  conceits  a  reference  to  the  time  when  the  devil's  father 
fell  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (33).  Theophilus  has  an 
obscure  reference  in  his  work  On  the  Nature  of  God,  which  refer- 
ence may  have  given  a  suggestion  to  Origen :  "  If  I  call  him 
Power,  I  mention  his  activity ;  if  Providence,  his  goodness ;  if  I 
call  him  Kingdom,  I  but  mention  his  glory;  if  Lord,  I  mention 
his  being  Judge,"  etc.  Melito,  in  a  Fragment  on  Faith,  has  a  gen- 
eral reference,  beginning:  "He  who  preached  the  kingdom." 
Athenagoras,  in  his  Plea  for  the  Christiatis,  18,  says:  "May  you, 
by  considering  yourselves,  be  able  to  discover  the  heavenly 
kingdom  also  !"  Julius  Africanus,  in  his  Chronology,  On  Events 
in  Persia, says  :  "The  Sages  said,  '  But  of  Judah  has  arisen  a  king- 
dom which  shall  subvert  all  the  memorials  of  the  Jews.'"  In  the 
anonymous  Selectio?is  from  the  Prophetic  Scriptures,  12:  "We  have 
received,  as  it  were,  an  earnest  of  the  eternal  blessings  and  of 
the  ancestral  riches.  For  he  said  :  'Seek  the  kingdom  of  God,'" 
etc.  In  the  Syriac  Documents  the  references  are  as  a  rule  to  the 
celestial  kingdom. 

There  are  thus  in  the  fragments  of  these  minor  Greek  Fathers 
several  conceptions  of  the  kingdom,  but  the  prevailing  sense 
makes  it  a  kinordom  in  heaven. 


125 


B.—LA  TIN. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

TERTULLIAN    AND    CYPRIAN. 

I.  Tertullian's  i6i  references  have  as  a  whole  the  eschato- 
logical  tone.  The  references  in  his  Catholic,  or  pre-Montanistic 
writings,  before  202  A.  D.,  are  comparatively  few  and  unimpor- 
tant, and  indicate  an  intermingling  of  the  ideas  of  the  kingdom 
as  terrestrial  and  celestial.  In  \.\vq  Prescription  agai?ist  Heresies, 
chap.  13:  "He  preached  the  new  law  and  the  new  promise  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  In  the  work  on  Speciacidar  Shows,  sec. 
30,  he  refers  to  the  "fast-approaching  advent  of  our  Lord,  the 
rising  of  the  saints,  the  kingdom  of  the  just  thereafter."  On 
Prayer,  5  :  "  'Thy  kingdom  come'  has  reference  to  that  whereto 
'Thy  will  be  done'  refers  —  in  us,  that  is.  And  if  the  manifes- 
tation of  the  Lord's  kingdom  pertains  unto  the  will  of  God  and 
unto  our  anxious  expectation,  how  do  some  pray  for  a  protrac- 
tion of  the  age,  when  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  we  pray  may 
arrive,  tends  to  the  consummation  of  the  age  ?"  In  the  treatise 
On  Baptism,  chap.  13,  John  3:  5  is  quoted,  possibly  with  the  social 
conception  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  in  chap.  20  he  says  :  "  No  one 
untempted  should  attain  the  celestial  kingdoms."  In  the  trea- 
tise addressed  To  his  Wife,  6,  occurs  the  phrase,  "the  celestial 
kingdom,"  which  is,  in  a  parallel  passage  in  Womafis  Dress,  9, 
"the  kingdom  of  God."  On  Idolatry,  9:  He  cannot  hope  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  who  abuses  the  heaven  (as  in  astrology). 

The  Montanistic  writings  are  in  general  millennial  and  mate- 
rialistic. Against  Marcion,  Book  3,  chap.  24:  "We  confess  that 
a  kingdom  is  promised  us  upon  the  earth,  although  before  heaven, 
only  in  another  state  of  existence  ;  ....  it  will  be  after  the 
resurrection  for  one  thousand  years,  in  the  divinely-built  city  of 
Jerusalem,  let  down  from  heaven  ;   .   .   .   .   this   Ezekiel  knew  of, 

and  John  beheld It  is  suitable  that  the  saints  be  rewarded 

on  earth,  the  scene  of  their  suffering  for  Christ Of  the 

heavenly  kingdom  this  is  the  process  :  after  its  thousand  years 

38  [126 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  39 

are  over,  within  which  period  is  completed  the  resurrection  of 
the  saints,  will  ensue  the  destruction  of  the  world  at  the  judg- 
ment ;  we  shall  be  changed  into  the  substance  of  angels,  .... 
and  so  removed  to  that  kingdom  in  heaven  whereof  we  treat. 
....  There  is  thus  an  earthly  and  a  heavenly  dispensation." 
In  Book  4,  chap.  33,  Christ  is  identified  with  the  kingdom:  "A 
certain  limit  is  placed  between  the  old  dispensation  and  the  new, 
at  which  Judaism  ceased  and  Christianity  began,  a  cessation 
(which  was  fulfilment,  not  extinction)  of  the  law  and  the 
prophets  and  the  commencement  of  that  gospel  in  which  is  the 
kingdom  of  God,  Christ  himself."  In  chap.  35,  on  Luke  17:20, 
21:  Who  will  not  interpret  "within  you"  to  mean  "  in  your 
hand,"  "  withinyour  power,"  if  you  do  the  commandment  of  God  ? 
If,  however,  the  kingdom  of  God  lies  in  his  commandment,  .... 
Moses  gives  the  same  view  in  Deut.  30:11-13.  This  means. 
Neither  in  this  place  nor  in  that  is  the  kingdom  of  God;  for 
behold,  it  is  within  you.  This  concerns  the  Lord's  own  king- 
dom, for  he  says  that  the  Son  of  man  must  suffer  many  things 
and  be  rejected,  before  his  coming,  at  which  time  his  kingdom 
will  be  really  {^siibstantialiter)  revealed.  In  Book  5,  chap.  10: 
The  substance  of  the  flesh  is  to  be  changed  at  the  resurrection, 
which  is  the  gate  through  which  the  kingdom  is  entered.  On 
the  Resurrection  of  the  Flesh,  50  and  51  :  Flesh  and  blood  are 
excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God  in  respect  of  their  sin,  not 
of  their  substance.  In  Christ  flesh  and  blood  obtain  both  heaven 
and  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  sin  shall  be  "excluded  from  the 
kingdom  and  indeed  from  the  court  of  heaven  itself." 

The  millennium  is  thus  the  prelude  of  the  true  kingdom  of 
God,  for  "when  the  world  shall  pass  away,  then  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  shall  be  opened  "  ((9w  the  Soul,  55).  In  two  passages 
the  kingdom  is  equivalent  to  heaven  in  a  way  that  reminds  us 
of  Chrysostom.  On  the  Scorpio/is  Bite,  10  :  "For  though  you 
think  heaven  still  shut,  remember  that  the  Lord  left  here  to  Peter, 
and  through  him  to  the  church,  the  keys  of  it,  which  every  one 
....  having  confessed  ....  will  carry  with  him."  And  On  Modesty, 
i:  "Apprehension  or  desire  of  the  eternal  fire  or  kingdom."  The 
church  is  here  distinguished  from  the   kingdom,  but  in  his  work 

127 


40  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

Against  Marcion,  Book  3,  chap.  23,  he  says  :  "  His  Holy  Spirit,  who 
builds  the  church,  which  is  indeed  the  temple,  and  household, 
and  city  of  God,"  which  not  only  reflects  a  thought  of  Hermas, 
like  him  leaving  the  relation  between  church  and  kingdom 
indefinite,  but  is  clearly  a  seed-thought  for  Augustine's  De  Civi- 
tate  Dei. 

Besides  holding  to  the  view  of  Luke  17:21,  already  given 
above,  he  quotes  i  Cor.  4:  20,  "not  in  speech  but  in  power,"  in 
the  same  vein  {^On  Modesty,  14)  ;  and  in  his  treatise  On  the 
Soul,  39,  in  commenting  on  John  3:5,  says:  "cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God :  in  other  words,  he  cannot  be 
holy."  The  kingdom  is,  however,  at  least  in  words,  dis- 
tinguished from  eternal  life:  "To  them  from  whom  the  kingdom 
is  taken  away,  of  course  the  life  which  exists  in  the  kingdom  is 
not  permitted  either"  i^On  Modesty,  16).  The  social  conception  of 
the  kingdom  seems  to  be  in  mind  when  he  quotes  Rev.  i  :6  in 
his  Exhortation  to  Chastity,  7  :  "It  is  written,  'A  kingdom  also  and 
priests  to  his  God  and  Father  hath  he  made  us,'  "  but  in  view 
of  his  general  usage,  the  expression  must  be  taken  in  a  proleptic 
sense.  Also  in  his  work  Against  Praxeas,  26,  he  refers  to  Luke 
22:29:  "He  awards  the  kingdom  to  his  disciples  as  he  says  it 
had  been  appointed  to  himself  by  the  Father." 

2.  Cyprian  is  a  true  connecting  link  between  "the  master " 
Tertullian  and  the  great  Augustine.  Even  more  ardently  than 
Tertullian  he  looks  toward  the  manifestation  of  the  kingdom 
in  the  time  of  the  Last  Things,  but  not  in  the  millennial  form. 
Like  him  also  he  dwells  upon  its  ethical  nature,  emphasizing  still 
further  its  spiritual  elements  as  the  substance  of  character. 
Like  him  he  declares  that  Christ  himself  is  the  kingdom  of  God, 
as  the  impersonation  of  that  which  we  pray  may  come,  and  in 
whom  we  shall  reign ;  and  advances  toward  a  closer  conception 
of  the  relation  between  the  church  and  the  kingdom.  In  all 
these  points  we  may  trace  his  influence  on  Augustine,  who  recog- 
nized his  indebtedness  to  Cyprian  in  many  germinal  thoughts,  as 
is  evident  from  his  tribute  to  Cyprian  in  chap.  26  of  his 
work  on  Grace  and  Free-Will:  "I  strongly  advise  you  to  read 
attentively    the    book  of  the    blessed    Cyprian  on     The   Lord's 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  41 

Prayer.  So  far  as  the  Lord  shall  assist  you,  understand  it,  and 
commit  it  to  memory."  In  no  less  than  eleven  other  places  in 
Vol.  V  of  his  works,  does  Augustine  refer  to  this  treatise  of 
Cyprian. 

'"Thy  kingdom  come.'  We  ask  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
may  be  set  forth  to  us,  even  as  also  that  his  name  may  be  sancti- 
fied in  us.  For  where  does  God  not  reign  ?  We  pray  that  our 
kingdom,  which  has  been  promised  us  by  God,  may  come,  which 
was  acquired  by  the  blood  and  passion  of  Christ ;  that  we  who 
first  are  his  subjects  in  the  world,  may  hereafter  reign  with  Christ 
when  he  reigns,  as  in  Matt.  25  :  34.  Christ  himself,  however, 
may  be  the  kingdom  of  God,  whom  we  day  by  day  desire  to 
come ;  whose  advent  we  crave  to  be  quickly  manifested  to  us. 
For  since  he  is  Himself  the  resurrection,  since  in  him  we  rise 
again,  so  also  the  kingdom  of  God  may  be  understood  to  be 
Himself,  since  in  him  we  shall  reign.  But  we  do  well  in  seek- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God,  i.  e.,  the  heavenly  kingdom,  because 
there  is  also  an  earthly  kingdom.  There  is  need  of  prayer,  that 
we  fall  not  away  from  the  heavenly  kingdom,  as  the  Jews  fell. 
The  Jews  were  previously  children  of  the  kingdom,  so  long  as 
they  continued  to  be  also  children  of  God  ;  but  after  the  name 
of  father  ceased  to  be  recognized  among  them,  the  kingdom  also 
ceased ;  and  therefore  we  Christians,  who  in  our  prayer  begin  to 
call  God  our  Father,  pray  also  that  God's  kingdom  may  come  to 
us"  (  On  the  Lord's  Prayer,  13).  In  Epistle  72,2:  "  From  this  earth 
and  from  these  sufferings  you  shall  speedily  come  to  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  On  Mortality,  2  :  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  now 
beginning  to  be  at  hand  ;  the  reward  of  life,  ....  the  posses- 
sion lately  lost  of  Paradise,  are  now  coming  with  the  passing 
away  of  the  world." 

"The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  nor 
in  eloquence,  but  in  the  faith  of  the  cross  and  in  virtue  of  con- 
versation" [Ag-ainst  the  Jews,  3  .6g).  In  4.  52,  in  illustrating  the 
theme  that "  the  liberty  of  believing  or  of  not  believing  is  placed 
in  free  choice,"  he  quotes  Luke  17:21,  "the  kingdom  of  God  is 
within  you,"  with  Deut.  13:18,  and  Isa.  1:19.  On  the  Unity  of 
the  Church,  14  :  "  Charity  will  ever  be  in  the  kingdom,  will  endure 

129 


42  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

forever  in  the  unity  of  a  brotherhood  linked  to  herself.  Discord 
cannot  attain  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  etc.  Here  there  may 
be  the  thought  of  charity  as  being  always  in  the  kingdom  on  its 
progress  from  earth  to  heaven. 

The  church  is  to  reign  in  the  kingdom.  "  He  cannot  be  a 
martyr  who  is  not  in  the  church ;  he  cannot  attain  unto  the 
kingdom  who  forsakes  that  which  shall  reign  there"  {Unity  of 
the  Church,  14).  In  6  :  "The  bride  of  Christ  keeps  us  for  God. 
She  appoints  the  sons  whom  she  has  borne  for  the  kingdom."  In 
Works  a?id  Alms,  9  :  "The  Lord  says  that  in  the  judgment,  those 
who  have  labored  in  his  church  are  admitted  to  receive  the 
kingdom."  These  references  distinguish  between  the  church  and 
the  kingdom  ;  but  a  statement  in  Epistle  72.  1 1  makes  the  keys 
of  Matt.  16:19  refer  to  the  church:  "The  church  is  founded 
upon  one  who  received  the  keys  of  it  by  the  Lord's  voice." 


130 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
LACTANTIUS    AND    THE    MINOR    LATIN    FATHERS. 

I.  Lactantius  is  the  only  Father  who  identifies  the  kingdom 
of  God  with  the  "golden  age"  of  the  poets,  as  something  lost 
in  the  past  but  to  be  restored.  He  distinguishes  this  kingdom 
from  the  universal  reign  of  God.  He  is  a  millennarian,  but  with 
a  marked  ethical  tone,  and  repeatedly  speaks  of  immortality,  or 
the  inheritance  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  the  final  state  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  as  the  highest  good.  He  apparently  has  a 
vivid  sense  of  the  eschatological  view  of  the  kingdom. 

"  It  is  possible  that  Mt.  Olympus  may  have  supplied  the  poets 
with  the  hint  for  saying  that  Jupiter  obtained  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  because  Olympus  is  the  common  name  both  of  the 
mountain  and  of  heaven"  [Divine  Institutes,  i.  ii).  "Jupiter 
changed  the  golden  age  by  taking  away  justice.  This  is  ...  . 
the  laying  aside  of  divine  religion,  which  alone  effects  that  man 
should  esteem  man  dear,  and  should  know  that  he  is  bound  to 
him  by  the  tie  of  brotherhood  —  since  God  is  alike  a  Father  to 
all  —  so  as  to  share  the  bounties  of  the  common  God  and  Father 
with  those  who  do  not  possess  them ;  to  injure  no  one,  to 
oppress  no  one,  not  to  close  his  door  against  a  stranger,  nor  his 
ear  against  a  suppliant,  but  to  be  bountiful,  beneficent,  and 
liberal ;  which  Tullius  thought  to  be  praises  suitable  to  a  king. 
This  truly  is  justice,  and  this  is  the  golden  age"  (which  Jupiter 
and  his  offspring  took  away). 

"But  God,  when  the  last  time  appeared,  sent  a  messenger  to 

bring  back  that  former  age The  appearance,  therefore, 

of  the  golden  time  returned,  and  justice  was  restored  to  the 
earth,  but  was  assigned  to  a  few  only;  and  this  justice  is  nothing 

else  than  the  pious  and  religious  worship  of  the  one  God 

In  order  that  the  nature  of  virtue  might  be  evident,  he  did  not 
exclude  evil;  ....  so  the  golden  age  is  not  truly  here"  (Book 
5,  chaps.  6  and  7).  It  is  at  this  point  that  all  hope  for  the 
131]  43 


44  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

kingdom    as    the    Christian    community,    destined    to    win    and 
possess  the  earth,  seems  to  be  given  up. 

The  return  of  the  golden  age  is  still  future,  and  it  will  come 
as  the  prelude  of  the  kingdom  of  God  —  as  the  millennium.  In 
Book  4,  chaps.  7  and  12  :  "The  time  for  Christ's  receiving  this 
earthly  kingdom  has  not  yet  come,  but  he  sways  a  heavenly  and 
eternal  kingdom.  .  .  .  For  since  God  decreed  that  Christ  should 
twice  come  to  earth,  once  to  announce  to  the  nations  the  one 
God,  then  again  to  reign,  why  do  the  Jews  who  did  not  believe  in 
his  first  advent  believe  in  his  second?  ....  Even  now,  in  one  sense, 
he  has  (on  earth)  an  everlasting  dominion.  And  when  he  shall 
come  again  in  glory,  to  judge  every  soul,  and  to  restore  the 
righteous  to  life,  then  he  shall  truly  have  the  government  of  the 
whole  earth  ;  then,  every  evil  having  been  removed  from  the 
affairs  of  men,  the  golden  age,  as  the  poets  call  it,  i.  e.,  a  time 
of  righteousness  and  peace,  will  arise."  In  the  Epitome,  72 : 
Christ  shall  reign  with  the  saints  on  earth,  and  the  kingdom  of  the 
righteous  shall  be  for  one  thousand  years.  After  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  nations  ....  at  the  end  of  the  one  thousand  years, 
God  will  renew  the  world,  and  transform  the  righteous  into  the 
forms  of  angels,  that,  being  presented  with  the  garb  of  immor- 
tality, they  may  serve  God  forever  ;  and  this  will  be  the  kingdom 
of  God,  which  shall  have  no  end.  Then  shall  the  wicked  rise  to 
punishment,  etc. 

The  righteous  become  a  kingdom.  In  the  I?istihitcs,  Book  7, 
chap.  6  :  "We  are  rewarded  with  immortality,  that  being  made 
like  to  the  angels  we  may  serve  the  Lord  for  ever,  and  be  to  all 
eternity  a  kingdom  to  God."  Although,  as  remarked  above,  he 
seems  to  have  lost  the  conception  that  the  righteous  even  now 
are  such  a  kingdom,  still  in  Book  5,  chap.  8,  he  says:  "Lay 
aside  every  evil  thought  from  your  hearts,  and  the  golden  age 
will  at  once  return  to  you."  This  is  the  root  of  the  matter.  If 
this  fine  sentiment  is  individual  in  application,  it  recognizes  the 
kingdom  of  God  "within;"  if  collective,  it  points  the  way  to  the 
social  millennium  ;  and  in  either  case  it  is  an  assurance  that  the 
[)rayer  "Thy  kingdom  come"  may  be  granted. 

2.   The  mifior  Latin  Fathers. — Victorinus,  in  his  Co?nme?itary  071 
132 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  45 

the  Apocalypse,  has  several  important  references  to  the  kingdom. 
Jerome  is  in  error  when  in  his  Illustrious  Men,  i8,  he  classes 
Victorinus  as  a  follower  of  the  millennial  doctrine,  for  the  latter 
in   his  comments   on  Rev.  21  :  16  f.  says:  "Christ  is  the  rock  by 

which  and   on  which  the  church  is  founded The  church  is 

invincible Therefore   they  are  not  to  be  heard  who  assure 

themselves  that  there  is  to  be  an  earthly  reign  of  a  thousand  years, 
who  think  with  the  heretic  Cerinthus.  For  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
is  now  eternal  in  the  saints,  although  the  glory  of  the  saints  shall 
be  manifested  after  the  resurrection."  On  Rev.  1:6:  "And  he 
made  us  a  kingdom.  That  is  to  say,  a  church  of  all  believers; 
as  also  the  Apostle  Peter  says,  a  holy  nation,  a  royal  priesthood." 
On  Rev.  14  :  i  5,  he  speaks  of  "the  consummation  of  the  world, 
and  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  the  future  appearance  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  blessed,"  apparently  with  the  thought  that 
Christ's  kingdom  is  now  preparing  in  the  church.  Here  is  a 
manifest  approach  toward  the  idea  of  the  church  as  representing 
the  kingdom  on  earth,  which  culminates  in  Augustine. 

CoMMODiANUS,  in  his  Instruction  in  favor  of  CJiristia7i  Discipline, 
thinks  of  the  kingdom  in  connection  with  the  resurrection  of  the 
just,  but  without  indication  as  to  whether  it  shall  be  terrestrial 
or  celestial.  No  references  of  importance  are  made  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Pseudo-Isidorus  under  the  names  of  Pontiaius,  An- 
TERUS,  and  Fabian,  or  in  Minucius  Felix  and  the  anonymous 
treatise  on  Rebaptism.  It  is  notable  that  in  the  work  of  Arnobius 
Agaijist  the  Nations,^  there  is  no  reference  to  the  kingdom. 

Thus  in  the  ante-Nicene  period  while  the  Fathers  exhibit  a 
considerable  divergence  of  views  concerning  the  kingdom, 
representing  all  phases  of  the  New  Testament  usage,  still  the 
eschatological  conception  is  the  most  common. 

'  Which  is  Vol.  XIX  of  the  Ante-Nicene  Fathers  in  the  Clark  series. 


1.33 


PERIOD  III.     THE  NICENE  AND  POST-NICENE 

FATHERS. 

A.— GREEK. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  HISTORIANS EUSEBIUS,  SOCRATES,  SOZOMEN,  AND  THEODORET. 

The  writings  of  Eusebius  under  consideration  contain  his 
Church  History  and  certain  compositions  relative  to  Constantine. 
He  speaks  of  history  as  "a  narrative  of  the  government  of  God." 
He  tells  of  "  soldiers  of  Christ's  kingdom,"  meaning  Christians, 
confessing  their  faith;  and  in  8.  13  relates  how  the  first  martyr 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  proclaimed  the  heavenly  kingdom  of 
Christ,  first  by  words,  then  by  deeds. 

But  the  kingdom  in  heaven,  equivalent  to  heaven,  is  his  pre- 
vailing thought.'  "A  ready  way  of  entrance  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  was  given  Pamphilus,"  on  the  day  of  his  martyrdom 
{Martyrs  of  Palestine,  11.23).  In  the  Oration  on  the  Thirtieth  Aniii- 
versary  of  Cons'tantitie's  Accession,  2.4  :  "  Christ  opens  the  gates  of 
his  Father's  kingdom  to  those  whose  course  is  thitherward  from 
this  world."  In  4 .  i  occurs  the  statement:  "No  one  has  seen 
the  unseen  kingdom,  which  governs  all  things."  In  this  Oration 
the  terms  "celestial"  and  "heavenly"  are  constantly  applied  to 
the  kingdom.  In  his  Life  of  Constanti7ie,  describing  the  banquet 
scene  after  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  he  says  :  "One  might  have 
thought  that  a  picture  of  Christ's  kingdom  was  thus  shadowed 
forth,  and  a  dream  rather  than  a  reality."  This  amiable  picture 
must  also  be  referred  to  the  celestial  arena,  for  Eusebius  is  an 
opponent  of  millennarianism,  and  to  him  we  owe  the  record  of 
nearly  all  the  early  writings  in  opposition  to  that  doctrine. 

Socrates  has  no  original  references  to  the  kingdom,  but 
reports  in  his  History  several  forms  of  creed  or  confession  which 

»C/.  the  Caiena,Vo\.  VI,  p.  631,  where  this  saying  is  ascribed  to  Eusebius: 
"  Some  thought  that  our  Savior's  kingdom  would  commence  at  his  first  coming  ;  he 
therefore  informs  them  that  he  should  not  receive  the  kingdom  before  returning  to  his 
Father,"  etc. 

46  [134 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  47 

occasionally  refer  to  the  kingdom.  In  Book  i,  chap.  26,  Arius 
and  Euzoius  in  their  confession  to  Constantine  say  :  "We  believe 
also  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  and 
in  the  life  of  the  coming  age,  and  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (or, 
of  the  heavens),  and  in  one  Catholic  church  of  God,  extending 
from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other."  About  the  middle  of 
the  fourth  century  there  was  a  considerable  controversy  as  to  the 
duration  of  Christ's  kingdom,  to  which  reference  is  made  by  the 
oriental  bishops  at  Sardica  in  their  Synodical  Letter,  347  A.  D. : 
"A  certain  Marcellus  of  Galatia,  who  will  set  bounds  to  the  per- 
petual, eternal,  and  timeless  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Christ,  saying 
that  he  began  to  reign  four  hundred  years  since,  and  shall  end 
at  the  dissolution  of  the  present  world"  (note,  p.  45  of  Vol.  II, 
Ser.  2).  About  that  time  four  bishops  having  been  sent  for  to 
give  account  of  the  deposition  of  Athanasius  and  Paul,  presented 
to  Constans  a  declaration  of  faith,  composed  by  themselves,  sup- 
pressing the  creed  which  had  been  promulgated  at  Antioch,  and 
therein  confessed  their  belief  that  Christ's  kingdom  "  being  per- 
petual, shall  continue  to  infinite  ages,"  etc.  (Book  2,  18).  The 
Makrostich,  or  Lengthy  Creed,  sent  three  years  later  by  the 
eastern  bishops  to  those  in  Italy,  has  the  same  declaration  set 
forth  at  length,  among  its  statements  being  the  following: 
"Christ  has  not  attained  any  new  dignity,  but  we  believe  that  he 

was  perfect  from  the  beginning Asserting  that  the  Father 

is  God,  and  that  the  Son  also  is  God,  we  do  not  acknowledge  two 
Gods,  but  one  only,  on  account  of  the  majesty  of  the  Deity,  and 
the  perfect  blending  and  union  of  the  kingdoms ;  the  Father 
ruling  over  all  things  universally,  and  even  over  the  Son  himself: 
the  Son  being  subject  to  the  Father,  but  except  him,  ruling  over 
all  things  which  were  made  after  him  and  by  him,"  etc.  (2  :  19). 
In  the  creed  set  forth  by  Mark  at  Sirmium,  in  presence  of  Con- 
stantius,  the  same  thought  of  Christ's  kingdom  being  everlast- 
ing is  made  prominent  (30).  The  prevailing  thought  of  his 
kingdom  in  these  confessions  seems  to  be  that  of  his  reign  with 
the  Father. 

SozoMEN,  the  contemporary  of  Socrates,  has  two  references  to 
the  same   controversy,  and   in   addition  the   following   indefinite 

135 


48  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

reference  in  3.14:  "Some  of  the  disciples  of  Eustathius  of 
Sebaste  denounced  the  rich  as  altogether  without  part  in  the 
kingdom  of  God." — See  the  reference  to  Marcellus  in  Athanasius, 
below,  also  Theodoret,  History  (2.6). 

In  Theodoret  the  kingdom  is  generally  equivalent  to  heaven. 
In  his  History,  2.  2  :  "When  Constantine  was  about  to  be  trans- 
lated to  an  eternal  kingdom,"  etc.  He  also  refers  to  Christ's 
relation  to  the  kingdom,  and  in  5.  ii  quotes  the  Co?ifessio7i 
of  Faith  from  Pope  Damasus  to  Bishop  Paulinus  when  in  Thes- 
salonica:  "If  any  one  deny  one  Godhead  and  power,  one 
sovereignty  and  glory,  one  lordship,  one  kingdom,  will  and 
truth  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  let 
him  be  anathema."  In  the  Dialogues,  p.  173,  Orthodoxus  says: 
"Though  the  general  resurrection  has  not  yet  taken  place,  though 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  has  not  yet  been  bestowed  upon  the  faith- 
ful, the  Apostle  says  :  'Hath  raised  us  up,'  Eph.  2:  6,  to  teach  that 
we  too  shall  attain  the  resurrection, "etc.  Onp.  224:  "Considerwhat 
belongs  to  Adam  as  compared  with  what  belongs  to  Christ,  the 
disease  with  the  remedy,  hell  with  the  kingdom."  In  Epistle  120, 
to  Lupicius:  "To  receive  from  our  Master  alike  his  kindly  care  in 
this  present  life  and  in  the  life  to  come  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 
In  the  list  of  182  Questions  on  Genesis  a7id  Exodus,  Question  24 
reads  :  "  Why  did  God  plant  Paradise,  when  he  intended  straight- 
way to  drive  out  Adam  thence  ?"  The  answer  is  :  "God  condemns 
none  of  foreknowledge.  And  besides,  he  wished  to  show  the 
saints  the  kingdom  prepared  for  them  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world."      [Cf.  Athanasius  below.) 

There  is  in  the  Dialogues,  p.  224,  one  reference  which  recalls 
the  Pauline  view  of  the  relation  of  the  earthly  life  to  that  of  the 
kingdom:  "In  this  human  nature  they  who  have  exercised 
themselves  beforehand  in  the  citizenship  of  the  kingdom  shall 
reign  with  him."  ' 

'  Cf.  Clement  of  Rome,  54,  quoted  above. 


136 


CHAPTER  X. 

ATHANASIUS. 

This  great  thinker  has  two  distinct  conceptions  of  the  king- 
dom;  the  one  abstract  or  subjective,  God's  reign,  especially  in 
the  individual  soul;  the  other  the  concrete  reward  of  heaven. 
He  seems  never  to  think  of  the  kingdom  as  a  society  on 
earth,  either  present  or  future.  His  celebrated  view  of  the 
goodness  inherent  in  human  nature  appears  forcibly  in  his 
thought  of  the  kingdom,  which  he  even  declares  we  have  within 
ourselves  and  from  ourselves.  Having  in  this  view  a  strong 
affinity  with  Origen,  he  lays  less  stress  than  Origen  upon  the 
discipline  required,  in  knowledge  and  virtue,  to  make  the  "  poten- 
tial" kingdom  within  us  a  reality.  While  in  Origen  the  kingdom 
becomes  real  in  us,  a  part  of  our  character,  only  by  strenuous 
effort,  to  Athanasius  it  seems  more  like  a  part  of  ourselves  at 
the  outset.  In  this  Origen  clearly  stands  on  firmer  ground,  but 
Athanasius  by  no  means  overlooks  the  ethical  demands. 

"The  way  to  God  is  not  afar  off  or  outside  ourselves,  but  it 
is  in  us,  and  it  is  possible  to  find  it  from  ourselves  in  the  first 
instance,  as  Moses  also  taught  when  he  said,  '  The  word  of  faith 
is  within  thy  heart.'  Which  very  thing  the  Savior  declared  and 
confirmed,  when  he  said,  'The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.' 
For  having  in  ourselves  faith,  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  we  shall 
be  able  quickly  to  perceive  the  King  of  the  universe,  the  saving 
word  of  the  Father"  {^Against  the  Heathen,  Part  2.  30).  "We  need 
not  depart  from  home  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
nor  cross  the  sea  for  the  sake  of  virtue.  For  the  Lord  said,  'The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you.'  Therefore  virtue  needs  only 
willingness,  since  it  is  in  us  and  is  formed  from  us.  For  when 
the  soul  has  its  spiritual  faculty  in  a  natural  state  virtue  is 
formed"  [Life  of  A?itony,  20).  And  yet  we  need  divine  help,  for 
"The  Lord  in  the  flesh  becomes  our  guide  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  and  to  his  own  Father,  saying:  'I  am  the  way,  and  the 
door,'  "  etc.  [Discourses  Against  the  Ana?is,  2.  61). 
137]  49 


50  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

The  kingdom  is  of  the  Trinity  :  •'  To  him  the  kingdom  belongs, 
even  to  the  Father,^  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  now  and  for  ever  "  [On 
Luke  10  :  22,  sec.  6).  In  the  First  Discourse  Against  the  Ariatis, 
46,  on  Ps.  45:6:  "Christ  had  the  kingdom  eternally,  ever  ruling 
in  the  Father's  kingdom."  The  Nicene  Creed,  and  several  other 
symbols,  contain  no  reference  to  the  kingdom.  But  after  a  time, 
owing  to  the  misinterpretation  of  such  passages  as  Ps.  no  :  i  and 
I  Cor.  15  :  24  by  the  school  of  Marcellus,  the  eternity  of  Christ's 
kingdom  was  introduced  into  the  creeds  ;  we  find  it,  for  example, 
in  the  creed  propounded  by  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  in  his  Catecheti- 
cal Lectures.  Athanasius  defends  Marcellus  himself  from  error 
on  that  point  in  these  words:  "Marcellus  had  never  pretended 
that  the  Word  of  God  had  his  beginning  from  Mary,  nor  that 
his  kingdom  had  an  end  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  had  written  that 
his  kingdom  was  both  without  beginning  and  without  end " 
[Defe?ise  agaimt  the  Ariafis,  3.  47). 

The  kingdom  is  the  reward  in  heaven.  "  If  we  exercise  virtue 
we  shall  conquer  death,  and  receive  an  earnest  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven"  [Epistle  for  Easter,  342  A.  D.,  14.  5).  "Strangers  to 
difficulties  become  aliens  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  All 
present  matters  are  trifling  compared  with  those  which  are  future. 
....  For  what  can  be  compared  with  the  kingdom  ?  or  with  life 
eternal?"  (341  A.  D., 13.  4).  "At  the  day  of  judgment  ....  shall 
be  received  what  is  laid  up  for  the  saints  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
which  eye  hath  not  seen,"  etc.  [On  the  bicarnation  of  the  Word, 
57.3).  The  church  is  distinguished  from  the  kingdom:  "The 
heresy  of  Arius  is  excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  church, 
and  alien  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  [Epistle  54,  to  Serapion). 
"Baptized  into  the  Trinity  and  united  to  God,  we  believe  that 
we  have  also  inherited  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  in  Christ  Jesus," 
etc.  [To  the  Bishops  of  Africa,  11).  In  his  Statemefit  of  Faith,  i, 
on  Luke  23  :  43,  he  says  :  "An  entrance  to  Paradise  was  regained, 
from  which  Adam  was  cast  out,  into  which  Paul  also  entered." 
In  Epistle  43,  for  Easter  of  371  A.  D.,  on  Matt.  25  :  34  :  "The 
door  was  shut  from  the  time  that  Adam  was  cast  out  of  Paradise ; 
Christ  led  into  Paradise  the  thief,  and  having  entered  heaven  as 
forerunner  opened  the  gates  to  all."    This  expresses  a  belief  com- 

138 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  51 

mon  in  the  patristic  age,  that  the  abode  of  the  first  human   pair 
in  Eden  was  not  on  earth. 

It  is  a  fine  sentiment  of  Athanasius  that  "  Paul  wished  all  men 
should  be  as  he  was.  For  virtue  is  philanthropic  (and  sin  mis- 
anthropic, Easter  of  338:  10.4),  and  great  is  the  company  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  for  thousands  there  serve  the  Lord." 
[Easter  oi  339  :  11  :  i).  Here  the  kingdom  stands  for  a  social 
order,  but  apparently  in  the  heavenly  rather  than  in  the  earthly 
state. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
EPHRAEM    SYRUS  AND    APHRAHAT. 

I.  Most  of  the  references  to  the  kingdom  by  Ephraem  the 
Syrian  are  in  his  Hym?is,  as  a  rule  poetical  and  indefinite.  The 
prevailing  sense  is  celestial,  there  being  no  millennial  idea.  "Save 
by  the  door  of  resurrection  none  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  " 
[Hy?nns  for  the  Feast  of  Epiphany,  lo.  lo).  His  birth,  baptism, 
death,  and  resurrection  form  a  fourfold  bridge  unto  his  king- 
dom ;  and  his  sheep  pass  over  in  his  steps  (10.9).  Prayer  is 
able  to  bring  a  man  to  the  house  of  the  kingdom  {On  Admo7iition 
atid  Repentance,  7).  In  the  First  Homily  on  Our  Lord,  i  :  "He 
departed  from  Sheol  and  took  up  his  abode  in  the  kingdom, 
that  he  might  seek  out  a  path  from  Sheol  which  oppresses  all, 
to  the  kingdom  which  requites  all.  For  our  Lord  gave  his 
resurrection  as  a  pledge  to  mortals,  that  he  would  remove  them 
from  Sheol  which  receives  the  departed  without  distinction  to 
the  kingdom  which  admits  the  invited  with  distinction."  In 
these  references  the  kingdom  seems  to  mean  heaven ;  perhaps 
in  the  reference  to  prayer  the  idea  of  salvation  may  be  in  mind. 

There  is  also,  however,  a  clear  recognition  of  Christ's  king- 
dom on  earth,  as  in  Hy?nns  for  Epiphany,  15.  52,  Mary  says  to  the 
magi:  "  May  Persia  ....  and  Assyria  rejoice:  when  my  Son's 
kingdom  shall  arise,  may  he  plant  his  standard  in  your  country." 
His  kingdom  is  conceived  of  as  universal  reign  or  dominion,  as 
when  the  magi  say  to  Mary  in  15.  11:  "To  his  kingdom  shall 
all  be  obedient."  In  \.\\.^  First  Homily,  54:  "He  received  the 
kingdom  from  the  house  of  David,  even  though  Herod  held  the 
place."  On  the  Nativity,  2,  on  John  10:9:  "The  Door  for  them 
that  go  in,  by  which  they  go  into  the  kingdom."  In  sec.  4: 
"Herod  heard  the  roaring  of  the  Lion,  who  came  to  sit  in  the 
kingdom  according  to  the  Scriptures."  In  7:  "Thou  who  pavest 
the  way  into  the  kingdom."  Here  the  way  "into  the  kingdom'' 
may  be  either  of  present  salvation  or  of  the  heavenly  reward. 

52  [140 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  53 

The  kingdom  spoken  of    in  connection  with   Herod  is  a  poetic 
conception  for  dominion  in  general. 

2.  Aphrahat,  the  Persian  sage,  was  a  contemporary  of 
Ephraem,  and  in  some  of  his  views  resembles  him.  The  king- 
dom is  to  him  the  Messiah's  reign  and  realm,  especially  as  por- 
trayed in  Daniel,  with  its  realization  still  in  the  future.  His 
thought  therefore  centers  chiefly  on  the  Last  Things,  with 
frankly  expressed  doubt  whether  the  kingdom  is  to  be  terres- 
trial or  celestial.  There  is  no  trace  of  the  social  conception 
of  the  kingdom,  nor  of  the  inner  view  of  its  existence  in  the 
soul. 

"Jesus  received  the  kingdom  from  Israel,  and  handed  over 
the  keys  to  Simon,  and  ascended  and  returned  to  him  who  sent 
him  "  {Demonstratio?i  on  Persecutiofi,  21.13).  "  The  righteous  have 
not  inherited  the  kingdom,  nor  have  the  wicked  gone  into 
torment.  The  King  has  gone  to  receive  the  kingdom,  but  as  yet 
he  has  not  returned  the  second  time  "  {Dem.  on  the  Resurrectioji, 
8.  22).  "The  saints  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  that  is  beneath 
the  heaven,  Dan.  7  :  27.  And  if  they  say  that  it  has  not  taken 
place  as  yet,  then  (we  ask)  is  the  kingdom  that  shall  be  given 
to  the  Son  of  man  to  be  heavenly  or  earthly?"  What  answer 
is  expected  here  is  not  stated.  He  proceeds:  "And  lo ! 
the  children  of  the  kingdom  are  sealed,  and  they  have  received 

their  emancipation  from  this  world First,   he  gave  the 

kingdom  to  the  sons  of  Jacob  ;  .  .  .  .  and  when  they  did  not 
prosper  in  the  kingdom,  he  took  it  away  and  gave  it  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Esau  (the  Romans)  until  he  should  come  whose  it  is. 
And  they  will  deliver  up  the  deposit  to  its  Giver,  and  will  not 
deal  fraudulently  with  it"  {Dent,  of  Wars,  5.  23  and  24). 

The  thought  here  seems  to  be  that  his  kingdom  which  he 
entrusted  to  Simon  was  within  the  Roman  Empire,  an  imperiiim 
in  imperio;  but  it  is  evidently  not  entirely  clear  or  consistent  in 
the  sage's  mind.  His  doubt  also  as  to  the  future  place  of  the 
kingdom  is  expressed  in  the  Detn.  on  the  Last  Things,  22.  24: 
"God  has  power,  if  he  chooses,  to  give  inheritance  of  life  in 
heaven,  and  if  it  please  him,  in  the  earth.  Jesus  said,  'Blessed 
are  the  poor,  for  theirs  is   the  kingdom  of  heaven';   and  to  the 

141 


54  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

thief:  'Thou  shalt  be  with  me  today  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.' 
The  earth,  and  the  firmament  which  is  set  to  divide  the  upper 
heavens  from  the  earth  and  this  life,  shall  pass  away.  And  God 
will  make  a  new  thing  for  the  children  of  Adam,  and  they  shall 
have  inheritances  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  If  he  shall  give 
them  inheritance  in  the  earth,  it  shall  be  called  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  And  if  in  heaven,  this  is  easy  for  him  to  do.  For  with 
the  kings  of  the  earth  also,  although  each  one  of  them  abides  in 
his  own  place,  yet  every  place  to  which  their  authority  extends 
is  called  their  kingdom,"  etc.  In  the  Dem.  of  Monks,  6.  i8: 
"The  spiritual  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  that  was  prepared  for 
them  from  the  beginning.  The  others  shall  remain  on  the 
earth  and  turn  back  to  Sheol." 

To  these  Demonstratiom,  whose  date  is  337-344  A.  D., 
Aphrahat  appends  the  following  statement:  "  These  things  I  have 
written,  not  according  to  the  thought  of  one  man,  but  of  all  the 

church,  and  for  the  persuasion  of  all  faith I  will  receive 

instruction  without  contention  from  any  man  who  will  speak 
and  demonstrate  about  any  matter,"  So  far  as  his  views  repre- 
sent those  of  the  church  of  his  time,  they  indicate  a  wide 
degree  of  uncertainty  as  to  chiliasm  and  freedom  of  speculation 
about  the  locality  of  the  kingdom  when  finally  established. 


142 


CHAPTER  XII. 

BASIL,    CYRIL    OF    JERUSALEM,    GREGORY    NAZIANZEN,    AND    GREGORY 
OF    NYSSA. 

I.  In  Basil  the  two  chief  conceptions  of  the  kingdom, 
apart  from  certain  indefinite  references,  are  the  celestial,  and 
the  inner  or  subjective.  He  speaks  frequently  of  "the  gospel  of 
the  kingdom,"  and  in  Epistle  44,  To  a  Lapsed  Monk,  he  says: 
"You  were  proclaiming  to  all  the  power  of  the  kingdom,  and 
you  fell  from  it,"  making  the  kingdom  substantially  equivalent 
to  Christianity.  The  Trinity  share  in  the  kingdom.  Epistle  105, 
To  the  DeacoJiesses. 

"Through  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  our  restoration  to  Paradise, 
our  ascension  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  our  return   to   the 

adoption  of   sons in  a  word   into    all    blessings    of   this 

world  and  the  world  to  come  "  {On  the  Spirit,  15.  36).  "  Nothing 
can  destroy  the  labors  of  holiness  and  truth,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  that  awaits  them  is  firm  and  sure"  [Ep.  18,  To  Macarius 
and  John). 

Two  mystical  passages  in  his  Eighth  Epistle,  To  the  CcBsareans, 
treat  of  the  subjective  view  of  the  kingdom.  In  sec.  12:  "It  is 
said,  'Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God.'" 
And,  my  brethren,  entertain  no  other  conception  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  than  that  it  is  the  very  contemplation  of 
realities.  This  the  divine  Scripture  calls  blessedness.  For,  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you,  Luke  17:  21.  The  inner  man 
consists  of  nothing  but  contemplation.  The  kingdom  of  heaven, 
then,  must  be  contemplation.  Now  we  behold  shadows  as  in  a 
glass;  thereafter,  their  archetypes,"  etc.  In  sec.  7:  "All  material 
knowledge  is  said  to  be  the  kingdom  of  Christ:  while  imma- 
terial knowledge,  and  so  to  say  the  knowledge  of  actual  God- 
head, is  that  of  God  the  Father.     But  our  Lord  himself  is  the 

ultimate  blessedness He  calls  the  transition  from  material 

knowledge  to   immaterial  contemplation    a  resurrection 

143]  55 


56  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

Little  by  little  our  intelligence  becomes  strong  enough  to 
approach  Deity  unveiled This  is  what  is  meant  by  deliver- 
ing up  the  kingdom,  i  Cor.  15:24,  as  Christ  is  the  first-fruits,  not 
the  end,  of  this  deeper  doctrine.  So  when  the  disciples  asked 
him,  'When  wilt  thou  restore  the  kingdom?  '  Acts  i  :  6,  he  replied, 
'  It  is  not  for  you  to  know,'  etc.  That  is,  the  knowledge  of  such  a 
kingdom  is  not  for  them  that  are  bound  in  flesh  and  blood. 
This  contemplation  the  Father  hath  put  away  in  his  own  power." 

We  find  a  certain  affinity  to  this  peculiar  conception  of  the 
kingdom  in  Gregory  of  Nazianzen,  Basil's  friend;  and  the 
thought  of  both  may  possibly  have  been  influenced  by  Philo 
the  Jew.^ 

2.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  who  has  been  termed  "the  orthodox 
Arian,"  in  his  Catechetical  Lectures  dwells  constantly  upon 
Christ's  kingdom  as  the  reward  in  heaven  of  the  faithful,  and  as 
being  endless  in  duration. 

In  Lecture  3,  10  it  is  parallel  with  salvation:  "If  any  man 
receive  not  baptism,  he  hath  not  salvation  ;  except  only  martyrs 
who,  even  without  the  water,  receive  the  kingdom."  In  4.  15  : 
"Christ  is  coming  to  reign  in  a  heavenly,  eternal  kingdom  ;  .  .  .  . 
be  sure  on  this  point,  for  many  say  Christ's  kingdom  hath  an  end." 

"  Now  is  the  falling  away This  created  world  is  to  be  made 

anew How  escape  the  fire?  How  enter  into  the  king- 
dom?" (15.  2,  8,  26).  "In  this  holy  Catholic  church  receiving 
instruction  and  behaving  ourselves  virtuously,  we  shall  attain  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  and  inherit  eternal  life"  (18.28).  "  A  pure 
soul  that  has  cleansed  itself  from  sin  can  say  with  boldness,  'Thy 

'ScHURER,  in  his  History  of  the  Jewish  People,  Div.  II,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  380,  in  sum- 
marizing Philo's  ethical  teaching,  says:  "As  it  was  by  falling  away  from  God  that  man 
was  entangled  in  the  life  of  sense,  so  must  he  struggle  up  from  it  to  the  direct  vision 
of  God.  This  object  is  attainable  even  in  this  earthly  life.  For  the  truly  wise  and 
virtuous  man  is  lifted  above  and  out  of  himself,  and  in  such  ecstasj'  beholds  and 
recognizes  Deity  itself.  His  own  consciousness  sinks  and  disappears  in  the  divine 
light;  and  the  Spirit  of  God  dwells  in  him  and  stirs  him  like  the  strings  of  a  musical 
instrument.  He  who  has  in  his  way  attained  to  the  vision  of  the  Divine,  has  reached 
the  highest  degree  of  earthly  happiness.  Beyond  it  lies  only  complete  deliverance 
from  this  body,  that  return  of  the  soul  to  its  original  incorporeal  condition,  which  is 
bestowed  on  those  who  have  kept  themselves  free  from  attachment  to  this  sensuous 
body." 

144 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  57 

kingdom  come'  "  (23.  13) .  In  Procatachesis,  16,  the  rhetorical  ref- 
erence to  the  kingdom  has  probably  the  usual  meaning  in  Cyril ; 

"Great  is  the  baptism a  ransom  to  captives,   ....   anew 

birth  of  the  soul the  delight  of  Paradise,  a  welcome  into 

the  kingdom,  the  gift  of  adoption."  Likewise  the  reference  in  Lec- 
tJtre  17,  15:  "as  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind,  signifying  the 
presence  of  him  who  was  to  grant  power  unto  men  to  seize  with 
violence  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Possibly,  however,  by  "the 
kingdom"  in  these  two  references  he  has  the  present  Christian 
community  in  mind.  Otherwise  the  eschatological  views  of  the 
kingdom  are  found  in  Cyril. 

3.  Gregory  Nazianzen. —  In  this  versatile  and  talented 
Father,  surnamed  the  Theologian,  the  view  of  the  kingdom 
as  the  community  of  saints  or  Christian  society  seems  domi- 
nant, while  it  is  also  viewed  as  the  reign  of  Christ  over  all 
mankind,  and  as  the  heavenly  reward,  the  latter  being  empha- 
sized on  its  individual  and  subjective  side. 

In  the  Oration  on  Holy  Baptism,  3,  "Baptism  is,   ...   .  dying 

with  Christ the  bulwark  of  faith,  the  key  of  the  kingdom 

of  heaven,  the  change  of  life,  ....  the  loosing  of  chains,  the 
remodeling  of  the  whole  man."  In  22  :  "Will  he  not  (you  say) 
take  the  desire  of  baptism  instead  of  baptism  ?  You  speak  in  rid- 
dles, if  you  mean  that  the  unenlightened  is  enlightened  in  his 
sight,  and  that  he  is  within  the  kingdom  of  heaven  who  merely 
desires  to  attain  to  it,  but  refrains  from  doing  that  which  pertains 
to  the  kingdom."   In  24  :    "  Do  not  delay  in  coming  to  grace,  but 

hasten,  lest  the  robber  outstrip  you,  the  publican or  any 

of  these  violent  ones  who  take  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  force. 
For  it  suffers  violence  willingly,  and  is  tyrannized  over  through 
goodness." 

In  the  Second  Discourse  on  the  Son,  4  :  "As  Almighty  King  of 
both  willing  and  unwilling  he  reigns;  in  another  sense  as  pro- 
ducing in  us  submission,  and  placing  us  under  his  kingship  as 
willingly  acknowledging  his  sovereignty.  Of  his  kingdom  in 
the  former  sense  there  will  be  no  end.  In  the  second  sense  the 
end  will  be  his  taking  us  as  his  servants,  on  our  entrance  into  a 
state  of  salvation.     What  need  to  work  submission  in  us  when 

145 


58  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

we  have  already  submitted  ?  ....  Then  he  will  judge  the  earth 
and  make  awards,"  etc.  This  seems  to  point  to  the  expectation 
of  Christ's  earthly  kingdom  of  the  saints  losing  its  identity,  so  to 
speak,  at  the  end  of  the  world,  .in  the  celestial  kingdom.  In 
Epistle  4,  Div.  2,  in  answer  to  Ep.  14  of  Basil :  "I  admire  your 
strait  and  narrow  way,  leading,  I  know  not  whether  to  the  king- 
dom or  to  Hades,  but  for  your  sake  I  hope  it  is  the  kingdom." 
In  the  Panegyric  on  Basil,  76,  he  uses  the  expression  "  intrusted 
with  the  keys  of  heaven,"  so  characteristic  of  Chrysostom. 

"The  heavenly  reward  to  those  whose  mind  is  purified,  will 
be  Light,  God  seen  and  known,  in  proportion  to  their  degree  of 
purity,  which  we  call  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  to  those  who 
suffer  from  blindness  of  their  ruling  faculty,  darkness,  estrange- 
ment from  God,  in  proportion  to  their  blindness  here"  [Oration 
071  Holy  Baptism,  45).  "Some  will  be  welcomed  by  the  unspeak- 
able light  and  the  vision  of  the  holy  and  royal  Trinity,  which  now 
shines  upon  them  with  greater  brilliancy  and  purity,  and  unites 
itself  wholly  to  the  whole  soul,  in  which  alone  and  beyond  all 
else  I  take  it  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  consists"  [On  His 
Father  s  Silence,  9).  According  to  this,  the  kingdom  is  that  light 
wherein  is  the  vision  of  God  uniting  himself  with  the  soul ;  this 
heavenly  vision  apparently  shines  with  greater  brilliancy,  with 
ever-increasing  appropriation  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  soul, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  life. 

4.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  in  his  thought  of  the  kingdom,  bears 
little  resemblance  to  his  brother  Basil,  but  has  notable  affinity 
with  Origen  and  Athanasius.  He  is  a  brilliant  defender  of 
Nicene  orthodoxy,  and  his  conception  of  the  kingdom  is  many- 
sided.  He  thinks  of  the  universal  reign  of  Christ,  which,  of 
course,  included  mankind.  But  through  sin  the  right  of  citi- 
zenship was  lost.  This  was  restored  to  men  by  the  entering  of 
Christ  into  human  life,  so  that  they  are  no  longer  outcasts  from 
the  kingdom,  but  by  their  own  efforts  may  regain  their  lost 
estate.  Again,  he  regards  the  kingdom  of  the  future  as  the 
reward  in  heaven,  a  restoration  to  Paradise. 

A  fundamental  difference  between  the  typical  Greek  theology 
and  the  Augustinian   may  be   illustrated  in   Gregory:    "These 

146 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  59 

glad  tidings  he  proclaims  to  all  who,  up  to  the  present  day, 
become  disciples  of  the  Word  —  that  man  is  no  longer  outlawed, 
nor  cast  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  is  once  more  a  son, 
once  more  in  the  station  assigned  to  him  by  his  God,  inasmuch 
as  along  with  the  first  fruits  of  humanity  the  whole  lump  is  hal- 
lowed "  [Against  Eunomius, 'Qook  I2,  i).  "The  earthly  envelop- 
ment once  removed,  the  soul's  beauty  will  again  appear,  becoming 
again  that  which  in  the  beginning  we  were  created.  This  like- 
ness to  the  divine  is  not  our  work  at  all  ;  it  is  the  great  gift  of 
God  bestowed  upon  our  nature  at  the  very  moment  of  our  birth ; 
human  efforts  can  go  only  so  far  as  to  clear  away  the  filth  of 
sin,  and  so   cause  the  buried  beauty  of  the  soul  to  shine  forth 

again This  truth  is,  I  think,  taught  in  the  gospel,  when  our 

Lord  says,  to  those  who  can  hear  what  Wisdom  speaks  beneath 
the  mystery,  '  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.'  The  Scripture 
points  out  that  the  divine  good  is  not  something  apart  from  our 
nature,  and  is  not  removed  far  away  from  those  who  have  the 
will  to  seek  it ;  it  is,  in  fact,  within  each  one  of  us,  ignored  indeed 
and  unnoticed  while  it  is  stifled  beneath  the  cares  and  pleasures 
of  life,  but  found  again  whenever  we  turn  our  thoughts  toward  it, 
....  This  is  confirmed  by  the  parable  of  the  lost  drachma" 
[On  Virgi?iUy,  12). 

"  Christ  showed  his  universal  sovereignty  by  saying  to  the 
thief,  'Today  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise'  "  [Agahist Euno- 
mitis,  Book  2.  1 1 ) .  "  Lordship  is  not  a  name  of  his  being,  but  of 
his  being  in  authorit3^  and  the  appellation  of  Christ  indicates  his 
kingdom,  while  the  idea  of  his  kingdom  is  one,  and  that  of  his 
nature  another.  The  establishment  of  his  kingdom  does  not 
signify  the  formation  of  his  essence,  but  the  advance  to  his  dig- 
nity" (Book  6. 4).  "  It  is  with  an  eye  to  Christ's  humanity,  I  sup- 
pose, that  David  describes  the  establishment  of  His  kingdom, 
not  as  though  He  were  not  a  king,  but  in  the  view  that  the  humili- 
ation was  taken  up  and  absorbed  into  the  majesty  of  His  king- 
dom "  (Book  1 1.  3). 

The  kingdom  as  celestial  may  be  seen  in  the  following  pas- 
sages :  "  Paradise  will  be  restored.  We  hope  not  for  those  things 
which  now  pertain  to  the  necessary  uses  of  life,  but  for  another 

147 


60  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

kingdom,  of  a  description  that  belongs  to  unspeakable  mysteries" 
{On  the  Making  of  Man,  21.4).  "  Now  the  resurrection  promises 
us  nothing  else  than  the  restoration  of  the  fallen  to  their  ancient 
state  ;  for  the  grace  we  look  for  is  a  certain  return  to  the  first 
life,  bringing  back  again  to  Paradise  him  who  was  cast  out  from 
it  "  ( 1 7.  2).  "  Christ  teaches  in  the  gospels  that  the  acquisition  of 
the  kingdom  comes  to  those  who  are  deemed  worthy  of  it,  as  a 
matter  of  exchange.  When  ye  have  done  such  and  such  things, 
then  it  is  right  that  ye  get  the  kingdom  as  a  reward."  From  the 
Catetia  two  references  maybe  added:  "Perhaps  the  kingdom 
of  God  being  within  us,  means  that  joy  which  is  implanted  in 
our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  And,  "  'Thy  kingdom  come' 
according  to  some  means  '  May  thy  Holy  Spirit  come  upon  us 
to  purify  us.'  " 


148 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
CHRYSOSTOM. 

'  The  great  preacher  usually  makes  the  kingdom  a  synonym 
of  heaven.  This  is  clear  from  his  constant  antithesis  of  "  hell" 
and  "  the  kingdom,"  occurring  about  sixty-three  times,  including 
the  use  of  the  phrase  "  kingdom  of  heaven"  in  such  connection 
six  times  ;  the  antithesis  "  heaven  and  hell "  is  rare.  This 
usage  is  also  evident  in  his  quoting  Matt.  16:19  nine  times, 
uniformly  as  "the  keys  of  heaven,"  Remarkable  also  is  his 
preference  for  the  phrase  "kingdom  of  heaven,"  which  he  uses 
about  two  hundred  times;  while  "the  kingdom  of  God" 
occurs  only  about  sixty  times,  and  of  these  sixty  passages  all 
but  two  are  Scriptural  quotations. 

But  in  his  thought  of  the  kingdom  he  is  profoundly  evangeli- 
cal, and  the  burden  of  his  splendid  eloquence  from  first  to  last 
is,  "Realize  the  kingdom  here!  Make  the  earth  a  heaven!" 
He  has  reached  the  social  view  of  the  kingdom,  as  the  redeemed 
society  on  earth,  as  it  were  by  way  of  heaven,  where  Christ 
dwells  and  reigns.  He  thinks  but  little  of  the  return  of  Christ 
to  earth,  the  primitive  eschatological  view  of  the  kingdom 
having  almost  faded  from  sight.  Placing  the  essence  of  the 
kingdom  in  character,  in  a  life  well-pleasing  to  God,  his  strenu- 
ous ethical  tone  almost  obliterates  the  boundary  between  things 
present  and  future. 

"Let  us  show  forth  a  new  kind  of  life.  Let  us  make  earth, 
heaven ;  let  us  hereby  show  the  Greeks  of  how  great  blessings 
they  are  deprived.  For,  when  they  behold  in  us  good  conver- 
sation, they  will  look  upon  the  very  face  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
....  They  will  say:  'If  the  Christians  are  become  angels 
here,  what  will  they  be  after  their  departure  hence?'  Thus  they 
too  will  be  reformed"  {^0?i  Matthezv,  43.7).  "  Let  us  love  God 
as  we  ought.     This  divine  and  pure  love  is  indeed  the  kingdom 

of  heaven  ;  this  is  fruition,  this  is  blessedness For  thus 

149]  61 


62  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

we  shall  see  his  kingdom  even  from  out  of  this  life,  and  shall 
be  living  the  life  of  angels,  and  while  we  abide  on  earth  we 
shall  be  in  as  goodly  a  condition  as  they  that  dwell  in  heaven" 
[On  Roma?is,  2i).  "To  live  according  to  his  will,  this  is  the 
principal  thing.  So  that  by  this  thou  hast  the  kingdom  already 
in  possession  without  a  probation"  {On  2  Cor.,  10.4).  In  11.6: 
"  Let  us  above  all  things  be  afraid  of  sin  :  for  this  is  punishment, 
this  is  hell,  this  is  ten  thousand  ills.  And  let  us  not  only 
be  afraid  of,  but  also  flee  from  it,  and  strive  to  please  God 
continually  ;  for  this  is  the  kingdom,  this  is  life,  this  is  ten 
thousand  goods.  So  shall  we  even  here  obtain  the  kingdom 
and  the  good  things  to  come  ;  whereunto  may  we  all  attain,"  etc. 

In  his  comments  upon  I  Cor.  1 5  :  24  f. :  "He  refers  to  Christ 
the  perfecting  of  his  kingdom,  —  I  mean  the  salvation  of  the 
faithful,  the  peace  of  the  world,  the  taking  away  of  evils  ;  for 
this  is  to  perfect  the  kingdom.  But  what  is  this:  'When  he 
shall  deliver  up  the  kingdom '  ?  The  Scripture  acknowledges  two 
kingdoms  of  God,  the  one  by  appropriation,'  the  other  by 
creation.  Thus  he  is  King  over  all  in  respect  of  his  creation  ; 
but  he  is  King  of  the  faithful  and  willing  and  subject,  in  respect 
of  his  making  them  his  own.  This  is  the  kingdom  which  is 
said  also  to  have  a  beginning.  To  this  he  refers  in  Ps.  2:8  and 
Matt.   28:18.     This    kingdom   then   doth    he   deliver   up,   i.  e., 

bring  to  a  right  end But  some  say  that  he  spake  this  to 

declare  the  removal  of  wickedness,  as  though  all  wouid  yield 
thenceforth  and  none  would  resist  nor  do  iniquity.  For,  when 
there  is  no  sin,  it  is  evident  that  God  shall  be  all  in  all."  On 
Matthew,  19.7:  "  He  hath  enjoined  each  one  of  us,  who  pray, 
to  take  upon  himself  the  care  of  the  whole  world.  'Thy  will 
be  done,'  ....  everywhere  upon  earth  ;  so  that  error  may  be 
destroyed,  and  truth  implanted,  and  all  wickedness  cast  out, 
and  virtue  return,  and  there  be  no  difference  henceforth  in  this 
respect  between  heaven  and  earth." 

In  his  celebrated  Sermo?is  on  the  Statues,  16.17,  he  gives  a 
social  program  which  reminds  us  of  the  "  golden  age  "  of  Lactan- 
tius.      "  Exercise  tender  care  toward  thy  neighbor.       For  we  are 

'  oiKeicoffiv, 

150 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  63 

placed  with  one  another,  inhabit  cities,  and  meet  in  churches, 
in  order  that  we  may  bear  one  another's  burdens,  that  we  may 
correct  one  another's  sins.  And  just  as  persons  in  the  same 
shop  carry  on  a  separate  traffic,  yet  put  all  afterwards  into  a 
common  fund,  so  also  let  us  act.  Whatever  advantages  each 
man  is  able  to  confer  upon  his  neighbor,  let  him  not  grudge, 
nor  shrink  from  doing  it,  but  let  there  be  a  kind  of  spiritual 
commerce  and  reciprocity  :  in  order  that  having  deposited 
everything  in  a  common  store,  and  procured  a  large  treasure,  we 
may  be  altogether  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  through 
the  grace  of  our  Lord,"  etc.  The  immediate  reference  of  the 
closing  words  is  probably  to  the  kingdom  above,  yet  the  shading 
of  the  present  kingdom  into  that  of  the  future  is  obvious. 

"While  the  kingdom  is  synonymous  with  salvation  and  the 
sum  of  all  good,  still  it  is  a  greater  thing  than  the  kingdom 
itself  to  receive  it  from  such  a  Giver"  [Homily  6,  on  Acts).  Hence 
the  kingdom  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  one  among  many  good 
things.  On  i  Cor.  43  .  6  :  "We  ought  not  to  do  anything  good  for 
the  hope  of  the  kingdom,  but  because  it  pleases  God,  which  is 
more  than  any  kingdom."  On  Romans,  i  5,  as  often  :  "  Paul  would 
prefer  to  fall  into  hell  and  be  banished  from  the  kingdom,  to 
losing  Christ."     On  Matthew,  24:  5  and  6  :    "The  centurion  went 

away  having  received  a  kingdom Judas,  too,  was  a  child 

of  the  kingdom,  and  yet  he  became  a  child  of  hell."  On  John,  24. 
2  :  "It  is  impossible,  Christ  says,  for  one  not  born  from  above 
to  see  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  in  this  pointing  to  himself,  and 
declaring  that  there  is  another  besides  the  natural  sight,  and 
that  we  have  need  of  other  eyes  to  behold  Christ."  So  in 
Homily  2,  on  Colossians  :  "No  one  by  his  own  achievements 
obtains  the  kingdom."  Of  the  young  man  in  Mark  12  :  34,  who 
was  '  not  far  from  the  kingdom,'  he  says  that  it  was  because  he 
overlooked  low  things  and  embraced  the  first  principle  of  virtue 
[On  Matt.,  yi.  i).  This  passage  of  Mark  is  treated  at  length  in 
Hilary. 

Chrysostom  evidently  thinks  of  the  church  as  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  in  some  instances,  but  without  expressly  identifying 
them.      To  Catechumens,  i.  4,  on  Ps.  2  :  8  :     "  Dost  thou  see  how 

151 


64  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

he  has  made  mention  of  the  church  of  the  gentiles,  and  has 
spoken  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  extended  on  all  sides  ?  "  In 
I.  I  :  "  Ye  are  not  about  to  be  led  to  an  empty  dignity,  but  to 
an  actual  kingdom  :  and  not  simply  to  a  kingdom,  but  to   the 

kingdom  of  heaven  itself Yet  thirty  days,  and  the  King 

of  heaven  shall  restore  you  to  the  country  which  is  on  high,  Jeru- 
salem, which  is  free — to  the  city  which  is  in  heaven.  Remem- 
ber me,  when  you  come  into  that  kingdom,  when  you  receive 
the  royal  robe,"   etc.      On  Matt.  8.  6  :    Now   in   Egypt   Christ's 

kingdom  shines   forth  in   its    brightness Everywhere  in 

that  land  the  camp  of  Christ,  and  the  royal  flock,  and  the  polity 
of  the  powers  above.  In  88.  i  :  "There  ought  to  be  choirs  of 
angels  here,  and  we  ought  to  make  the  earth  a  heaven."  In 
Homily  15.  11,  07i  i  Cor.,  the  church  is  distinguished  from  the 
kingdom  when  he  speaks  of  "  the  priests  not  purging  out  from 
their  borders,  that  is,  out  of  the  church,  the  covetous  and 
whatsoever  would  exclude  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  On 
the  parable  of  the  tares,  On  Matthew,  47.  i  :  "  Whereas  Christ  is 
the  sower,  and  of  his  own  field  and  out  of  his  own  kingdom  he 
gathers,  it  is  clear  that  the  present  world  also  is  his." '  The 
conclusion  which  Augustine  draws  from  this  parable  is  that  the 
church  is  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

Chrysostom's  thought  of  the  kingdom  as  spiritual  and 
requiring  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  is  manifest  in  two  com- 
ments in  his  Discourses  on  the  Acts.     On  1:6:     "It  appears  to 

'In  his  famous  passage  on  the  community  of  goods,  Homily  11  on  Acts,  he  draws 
this  enthusiastic  picture :  "  Let  us  now  depict  this  state  of  things  in  words,  and  let 
all  sell  their  possessions,  and  bring  them  into  the  common  stock  —  in  words,  I  mean  : 
let  none  be  excited,  rich  or  poor  !  How  much  gold  think  you  would  be  collected  ? 
....  Perhaps  one  million  pounds'  weight  of  gold,  ....  nay,  twice  or  thrice  as 
much.  Shall  we  say  there  are  in  the  city  a  hundred  thousand  Christians,  and  the  rest 
Greeks  and  Jews  ?  Of  the  poor  I  think  not  more  than  50,000 ;  .  .  .  .  Then  to  feed 
that  number  daily,  what  abundance  would  there  be  !  And  yet  if  the  food  were  received 
in  common,  all  taking  their  meals  together,  it  would  require  no  such  great  outlay  after 
all.  But,  you  will  ask,  what  should  we  do  after  the  money  was  spent  ?  And  do  you 
think  it  ever  could  be  spent  ?  Would  not  the  grace  of  God  be  ten  thousand  fold 
greater  ?  Would  it  not  be  richly  poured  out  ?  Nay,  should  we  not  make  a  heaven 
upon  earth  ?  If,  where  the  numbers  were  3,000  and  5,000,  the  doing  of  this  thing  had 
such  splendid  success,  and  none  of  them  complained  of  poverty,  how  much  more  glori- 
ous would  this  be  in  so  vast  a  multitude  ?" 

152 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHEES  65 

me  that  they  had  not  any  clear  notion  of  the  nature  of  that 
kingdom  ;  for  the  Spirit  had  not  yet  instructed  them."  On 
28  :  31  :  "The  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God.  Nothing 
of  the  things  of  sense,  nothing  of  things  present."  His  spirit  is 
finely  summarized  in  a  remark  in  Homily  6,  on  Philippia7is  :  "I 
could  wish  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  to  be  ever  my 
discourse,  of  the  rest,  of  the  green  pastures,  ....  of  the 
pleasure  of  being  with  Christ." 


153 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
JOHN    OF     DAMASCUS. 

It  is  a  long  leap  in  more  than  one  respect  from  Chrysostom 
to  John  of  Damascus.  Chrysostom  died  in  407,  and  John  in  or 
near  the  year  757,  as  "  the  last  of  the  Fathers."  Between  them 
there  are  in  the  Eastern  church  only  a  few  names  of  any  impor- 
tance, and  none  whose  works  are  considered  in  the  present 
investigation.  In  the  Western  church  the  succession  extends  to 
Gregory  the  Great  (d.  604). 

The  work  of  John  selected  as  representive  in  the  list  is  that 
071  the  Orthodox  Faith,  which  is  the  third  Division  of  his  Fou?i- 
tain  of  Knowledge.  In  this  work  there  are  six  references  to  the 
kingdom,  all  general  and  indefinite,  as  follows  :  "We  believe  in 
one  God,  ....  holding  a  perpetual  and  immortal  kingdom  over 
all  things"  (Book  i.  chap.  8).  Also,  "  one  lordship,  one  king- 
dom," which  the  English  version  renders  "sovereignty."  In  2. 
II  Matt.  6:33  is  quoted.  In  2.  29:  "God's  original  wish  was 
that  all  should  be  saved  and  come  to  his  kingdom.  For  it  was 
not  for  punishment  that  he  formed  us,  but  to  share  in  his  good- 
ness, inasmuch  as  he  is  a  good  God."  In  4,  15:  "John  the 
Baptist  was  the  first  herald  of  the  kingdom."  In  4.  25  :  "From 
the  time  when  he  was  baptized,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  appeared  to 
men,  the  spiritual  worship  and  polity  (or  mode  of  life)  and  the 
kingdom  of  heaven   have  been  preached." 

This  extreme  meagerness  of  reference  to  the  kingdom  by  the 
"  engrosser  of  Greek  theology  "  at  the  close  of  the  patristic  age, 
is  significant  chiefly  as  showing  that  John  wholly  failed  to 
appreciate  the  importance  of  the  kingdom.  Not  less  striking  is 
the  evidence  from  his  Sacred  Parallels,  a  collection  of  opinions 
of  the  early  Fathers  upon  various  points  of  morality  and 
religion,  alphabetically  arranged  under  Scriptural  quotations. 
Under  the  title  of  "The  Kingdom  of  Heaven,"  he  first  quotes 
fourteen  representative  New  Testament  passages  in  which  the 

66  l154 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHEESr^-""'  67 

kingdom  is  mentioned  ;  then  follow  eleven  quotations  or  senti- 
ments, to  illustrate  the  subject,  of  which  seven  do  not  mention 
the  kingdom  at  all.  Four  Fathers  are  mentioned  as  quoted 
from  (Basil,  the  Gregorys,  Clement  of  Alexandria),  but  several 
of  the  quotations  are  of  doubtful  source.  Of  the  four  refer- 
ences to  the  kingdom  by  name,  two  are  indefinite  :  "  It  is  the 
dignity  of  the  kingdom  that  it  has  no  tyranny  over  it;"  and, 
"  That  incorruptible  kingdom  has  no  desire,  but  has  the  presence 
of  all  good  things,  whence  there  is  no  place  for  desire." 
Another  is  from  Clement's  Quis  Dives  :  "  The  kingdom  of  God 
does  not  belong  to  sleepers  and  sluggards,  but  the  violent  take 
it  by  force  ;  .  .  .  .  for  this  is  commendable,  to  take  life  from 
God  by  force,"  etc.  The  fourth  is  important,  and  of  doubtful 
origin  :  "  The  state  of  those  who  live  according  to  the  divine 
laws  is  to  be  declared  the  kingdom  of  God."  This  saying,  and 
the  quotation  from  Clement,  seem  to  retain  something  at  least 
of  the  social  idea  of  the  kingdom. 

The  tenor  of  the  other  seven  quotations,  supposed  to  illus- 
trate the  kingdom  without  mentioning  it,  is  of  the  reward  of 
virtue,  the  good  things  waited  for.  The  first  given  reads  : 
"When  man  is  made  perfect,  he  is  borne  up  to  the  dignity  of 
angels."  As  a  rule,  however,  these  quotations  are  sententious 
and  obscure :  "  I  must  be  buried  together  with  Christ,  with 
Christ  rise  again,  be  an  heir  with  Christ,  become  a  son  of  God, 
God  himself."  And,  "Tribulation  is  the  flower  of  good  things 
which  we  wait  for.  Let  us  therefore  pluck  the  flower  on 
account  of  the  fruit." 

As  the  Eastern  church  had  already  long  been  dead  intellec- 
tually when  John  of  Damascus  wrote,  we  may  be  grateful  that 
in  this  final  flickering  of  the  flame  we  see  even  the  few  refer- 
ences   to   the    kingdom    which    he   gives. 


155 


B.—LA  TIN. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

HILARY. 

The  "  Athanasius  of  the  West  "  has  many  suggestive  thoughts 
about  the  kingdom,  even  though  his  views  are  not  always  clear 
or  consistent.  He  is  represented  in  the  present  discussion  of 
patristic  literature  by  his  treatises  On  the  Trinity,  and  On  the 
Synods,  or  the  Faith  of  the  Orieritals.  Having  at  hand  the  Benedic- 
tine edition  of  his  works,  and  certain  important  references  being 
found  apart  from  the  two  treatises  mentioned,  I  treat  as  a  whole 
his  views  of  the  kingdom. 

His  most  distinctive  view  is  indicated  by  the  title  of  an 
essay  De  regno  Christi  a  regno  Dei  Patris  disti7icto,  eight  pages 
folio,  by  the  Benedictine  editors  in  the  preface.  This  essay  is 
of  rare  interest  and  value  ;  according  to  its  own  showing, 
however,  the  somewhat  uncertain  use  of  terms  by  Hilary  leaves 
the  distinction  between  God's  kingdom  and  Christ's  vague  and 
shadowy. 

At  the  transfiguration  the  glory  of  his  body  coming  into  the 
kingdom  was  shown  the  disciples.  The  Lord  shall  reign  in  his 
glorified  body  until  the  offenses  shall  be  removed  from  his  king- 
dom at  the  consummation  of  the  age.  Then  he  will  deliver  up 
the  kingdom.  He  says  not"  his  kingdom,"  but  "a  kingdom," 
namely,  ourselves  made  conformable  to  his  glorious  body,  whom 
he  will  deliver  up  as  a  kingdom  to  God,  as  in  Matt.  25  :  34.  For 
the  Son  will  deliver  up  to  God  as  a  kingdom  those  whom  he 
called  into  a  kingdom,  promising  them  that  the  pure  in  heart 
should  see  God.  Reigning  thus  he  will  remove  offenses,  and 
then  shall  the  righteous  shine  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their 
Father.  And  what  kingdom,  he  himself  testified,  saying  to  the 
apostles:  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  in  you"'  [On  the  Trinity, 
Book  II.  37-9).^ 

»/«  vobis.         'Cf.  the  "earthly  kingdom  "  of  Irenaeus,  5. 32. 

68  [156 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  69 

Christ's  kingdom  is  thus  a  sort  of  intermediate  state,  in  his 
glorified  body,  in  which  he  keeps  the  righteous  after  death  until 
they  enter  the  kingdom  of  God  at  the  judgment.  On  Paul's 
saying,  "I  follow  on,  if  I  may  apprehend,"  Hilary  seems  to 
think  that  the  saints,  their  flesh  being  laid  aside,  are  joined  to 
the  flesh  which  Christ  assumed  for  us,  to  rest  in  it  until  they 
receive  a  body  of  their  own ;  and  this  resting  of  the  saints  in 
Christ's  body  he  calls  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  But  the  church  is 
Christ's  body  :  "  For  Christ  himself  is  the  chmch,  per  sacramentum 
corporis  stii  in  se  u?iiversam  earn  continens"  {Oji  Ps.  I2y,  cf.  On 
Matt.  5  :34).  Is,  then,  Christ's  body,  the  church,  different  from 
his  glorified  body,  in  which  the  righteous  dead  are  waiting  ?  So 
it  seems  from  Hilary's  comments  on  the  words  in  Ps.  15,  "Who 
shall  dwell  in  his  holy  mountain  ?"  "The  mountain,"  he  says, 
"  is  the  body  which  Christ  took  from  us.  We  climb  this  mountain 
after  we  have  dwelt  in  the  church.  There  is  rest  in  the  Lord's 
exaltation;  there  we  shall  be  associated  with  choirs  of  angels, 
since  we  also  are  a  city  of  God  "  [Dei civitas)  .  Here  is  evidently 
a  mystical  blending  of  ideas;  the  primary  idea  of  Christ's  king- 
dom on  earth  seems  to  be  lost  in  the  shadows  of  the  spirit- 
world.  In  his  comment  on  Matt.  12:32  he  identifies  Christ 
with  the  kingdom:  he  perfects  all  work  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  is  himself  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  in  him  is  God  recon- 
ciling the  world  unto  himself. 

And  yet,  in  the  exposition  of  Mark  12  :  34,  of  the  young  man 
who  was  not  far  from  the  kingdom,  there  is  apparently  a  recog- 
nition of  the  kingdom  as  the  present  company  of  the  saints. 
"Why  does  he  say  that,  although  such  faith  makes  a  man  per- 
fect for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  this  scribe  was  not  in  the  king- 
dom, but  only  not  far  from  it  ?  In  Matt.  25  :  34  and  5  :  3,  it  is 
given  in  absolute  possession.  Did  this  young  man,  whose  love  to 
God  and  man  was  apparently  perfect,  confess  something  less  than 
these  confessed  ?  ....  The  Lord, praising  his  confessionof  faith, 
still  says  he  is  not  far  from  the  kingdom,  and  did  not  place  him 
in  the  very  possession  of  the  blessed  hope.  He  was  on  the 
right  way,  and  not  far  from  the  gospel  sacrament,  though  still 
ignorant  that   the    one   thing  lacking  was   to    confess   Christ  as 

157 


70  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

Lord."  If  he  had  also  done  this,  Hilary  would  probably  have 
considered  him  as  in  the  kingdom. 

The  kingdom  within  the  soul  is  also  emphasized.  "To  rule 
the  body,  subduing  the  sin  reigning  there  and  all  incentives  to 
vice,  is  the  kingdom  of  God  in  us.  Let  Christ  reign  in  us,  since 
through  him  we  may  reign  over  ourselves,  according  to  Luke 
17:20,21,  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.  The  kingdom  of 
God  is  where  sin  is  vanquished,  death  done  away,  and  no  enemy 

reigns This  will  be  to   us  the  kingdom  of  God,  when  all 

the  stings  of  our  vices  being  broken,  the  blemish  of  bodily  infirm- 
ity will  be  removed"  (^On  Ps.  2,  sec.  42).  Here  also  there 
seems  to  be  a  blending  of  present  and  future. 

The  church  is  distinguished  from  the  kingdom  in  a  passage 
of  The  Trinity,  Book  6.  37  :  "  This  faith  [of  Peter]  is  the  founda- 
tion of  the  church  ;  this  faith  has  the  keys  of  the  celestial  king- 
dom." '  But  in  other  passages  the  two  ideas  are  intermingled 
somewhat  in  the  manner  of  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  as  On  Ps. 
147:15:  "By  this  swift  running  of  the  word  the  building  of 
this  blessed  city  has  been  begun,  which,  as  the  abundance  of  its 
resources  becomes  known,  is  daily  everywhere  built  up  with  the 
living  stones  of  the  faithful,  to  the  increase  of  the  city  of  the 
blessed  kingdom."  We  have  noted  above  how  he  makes  Christ 
both  church  and  kingdom.  Jerome  says  that  Hilary  drew  largely 
upon  Origen  in  his  treatise  on  the  Psalms  ;  we  may  trace  such 
influence  in  his  comment  On  Ps.  51,  sec.  17  ;  the  Jews  being  said 
to  be  torn  away  from  Christ's  body  and  kingdom,  an  assertion 
hardly  consonant  with  his  peculiar  views,  he  explains  the  king- 
dom as  something  promised,  offered  freely  to  all,  but  not  yet 
realized  ;  recalling  Origen's  thought  of  the  kingdom  being  poten- 
tially in  all  men. 

'The  English  translation  (which  appeared  in  May,  1899)  of  a  passage  On  the 
Trinity,  Book  6. 38,  runs  :  "  You  may  have  a  change  of  faith  if  the  keys  of  heaven 
are  changed.  That  faith  holds  not  the  keys  of  the  church,"  etc.  In  both  cases  the 
original  text  in  the  Benedictine  edition  reads:  "the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 


158 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
AMBROSE. 

This  beautiful  and  knightly  soul,  under  whose  preaching 
Augustine  was  converted,  has  a  thoroughly  evangelical  view  of 
the  kingdom.  He  thinks  of  it  as  the  community  of  those  who 
have  the  divine  life  in  the  soul.  He  lays  great  stress  upon  the 
unity  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Trinity,  his  treatise  On  the  Christian 
Faith  being  in  large  part  a  sustained  proof,  fortified  by  Scripture, 
that  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  is  one  with  that  of  the  Father; 
thus  taking  the  opposite  point  of  view  from  Hilary.  But  these 
two  Fathers  are  in  striking  agreement  in  their  insistence  upon 
the  spiritual  and  ethical  content  of  the  kingdom.  In  the  Catena 
on  Luke  there  are  several  valuable  additions  to  the  teaching  of 
Ambrose  concerning  the  kingdom,  which  will  be  given  with  the 
other  references. 

"  Christ  came  into  this  world  to  prepare  for  himself  a  kingdom 
from  among  us,  ....  to  receive  a  kingdom  from  us,  to  whom 
he  says:  'The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.'  This  is  the 
kingdom  which  Christ  has  received,  this  the  kingdom  which   he 

has  delivered  to  the  Father He  who  came  will  deliver 

up  the  kingdom  to  the  Father.  Each  gives  the  other  unity  of 
honor.  The  kingdom  which  he  delivers  up  is  not  lost,  but 
grows.  We  are  the  kingdom,  for  it  was  said  to  us.  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  within  you.  And  we  are  the  kingdom,  first  of  Christ, 
then  of  the  Father,  John  14:6.  When  I  am  on  the  way,  I  am 
Christ's;  when  I  have  passed  through,  I  am  the  Father's;  but 
everywhere  through  Christ,  and  everywhere  under  him.  It  is  a 
good  thing  to  be  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  that  Christ  may  be 
in  us.  We  are  now  under  Christ's  rule  in  the  form  of  servants ; 
but  when  we  shall  see  his  glory  we  shall  be  in  the  kingdom   of 

God,  in  which  are  the  patriarchs  and  prophets But  in  the 

kingdom  of  the  Son  the  Father  also  reigns  ;  and  in  the  kingdom 
of  the  Father  the  Son  also  reigns"  [Onthe  Faith,  5.  12). 
159]  71 


72  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

"To  be  with  Christ  is  life,  and  where  Christ  is,  there  is  his 
kingdom  "  [Cate?ia  on  Luke,  23  :  43).  Christ  is  our  Way,  which 
hath  opened  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  believers  [0?i  the  Faith, 
3.  7).  This  is  evidently  the  source  of  the  line  in  the  Te  Deum  of 
the  later  liturgy  :  "Thou  didst  open  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all 
believers,"  In  Duties  of  the  Clergy,  1.49  :  Cast  out  of  the  king- 
dom of  thy  soul  the  likeness  of  the  devil,  and  let  the  likeness  of 
Christ  glow  brightly  in  thy  kingdom,  that  is,  thy  soul. 

"The  kingdom  of  God  itself  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
as   it    is   written    in   Rom.  14:17:  'Righteousness    and   joy    and 

peace,'  etc The  Holy  Spirit  takes  us  into  his  kingdom  by 

the  adoption  of  holy  regeneration.  He  has  made  us  heirs  of  the 
new  birth  from  above"  [On  the  Spirit,  Book  2,  chaps.  20  and  7). 
We  are  all  anointed  with  spiritual  grace  for  a  share  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  in  the  priesthood  {^On  the  Mysteries,  6).  "He  shows 
that  it  is  a  regal  power  which  the  Holv  Spirit  possesses,  in  whom 
is  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  that  we  in  whom  the  Spirit  dwells 
are  a  royal  house If,  then,  the  mustard  seed  is  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  faith  is  as  the  grain  of  mustard  seed,  faith  is 
truly  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  which  is  within  us  "  (  Catena).  "  The 
kingdom  of  God  consists  in  simplicity  of  faith,  not  in  persuasive 
words,  but  in  power  plainly  shown  forth.     But  faith  alone  is  not 

sufficient  to  enter  [On  Matt.  7:21.     So  also  Chrysostom) 

What,  indeed,  do  we  understand  by  being  in  the  kingdom  of 
God,  if  not  the  having  escaped  eternal  death  ?  But  they  who 
have  escaped  eternal  death  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  into  his 
kingdom"  ((9/z///^/vz///^,  2.  5,  9  ;  3.12).  He  does  not  say  whether 
this  takes  place  before  the  Last  Things,  He  occasionally  speaks 
of  the  kingdom  as  celestial  (as  in  Epistle  63,  on  Prov.  10:15^) : 
"And  what  is  that  city  but  Jerusalem  which  is  in  heaven,  in 
which  is  the  kingdom  of  God?"  In  sec.  97  of  the  same: 
"How  much  ought  we  to  raise  our  hopes  to  the  kingdom  of 
God,  where  will  be  newness  of  life  ?  " 

The  relation  of  the  church  to  the  kingdom  is  touched  upon 
in  a  few  places :  To  Peter  he  gave  the  kingdom,  calling  him  the 
rock,  thereby  declaring  him  to  be  the  foundation  of  the  church 
[On  the  Faith,  4,  5),    "The  comparison  of  the  leaven  is  suitable, 

160 


KINGDOM    OP    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  73 

for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  redemption  from  sin,  and  therefore 
we  all,  both  bad  and  good,  are  mingled  with  the  meal  of  the 
church,  that  we  all  may  be  a  new  lump,  not  harmed  by  the  sins 
of  the  evil"  {On  Repentance,  1. 15).  Here  the  phrase  "the  meal 
of  the  church  "  is  obscure,  but  the  question  is  suggested  :  To 
enter  the  kingdom  must  one  first  enter  the  church,  as  the  apos- 
tles at  first  supposed  that  the  gentiles  must  come  to  Christianity 
through  Judaism  ?  The  Fathers  undoubtedly  hold  the  affirma- 
tive :  that  the  church  is  not  a  temporary  institution  such  as  Juda- 
ism was.  But  when  the  consequences  of  this  view  became 
gradually  more  apparent,  the  resulting  tendency  was  inevitable 
to  distinguish  the  ideal  from  the  actual  church,  and  to  identify 
the  ideal  with  the  kingdom.  One  of  the  most  striking  evidences 
of  this  transition  is  the  expression  "  the  kingdom  of  the  church," 
occurring  in  the  Catena  o?i  Luke  from  Ambrose  :  "  He  shows  his 
own  kingdom  to  be  undivided  and  everlasting And  there- 
fore the  kingdom  of  the  church  shall  remain  for  ever,  because 
its  faith  is  undivided  in  one  body." 


161 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
JEROME,   RUFINUS,  SULPITIUS,  AND  VINCENT. 

I.  Jerome  usually  thinks  of  the  kingdom  as  the  celestial 
abode,  frequently  also  as  God's  reign  in  the  world  or  in  the  soul. 
He  does  not  seem  to  connect  the  kingdom  in  thought  with  the 
church.  He  regards  rather  the  form  than  the  rich  spiritual  con- 
tent of  the  kingdom  as  the  principle  of  the  Christian  life.  That 
he  holds  the  conception  somewhat  loosely,  retaining  little  trace 
of  the  primitive  meanings,  is  evident  from  the  various  definitions 
of  the  kingdom  which  he  sets  forth,  in  one  passage  giving  three 
alternative  meanings.     The  Cate^ia  supplies  a  few  references. 

Stephen  the  deacon,  the  first  to  wear  the  martyr's  crown, 
would  be  less  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  many  bishops,  if 
rank  determined  the  reward  {Agai?ist  Jovimius,  1.35).  The  sheep 
which  stand  on  the  right  hand  will  be  brought  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven;  the  goats  will  be  thrust  down  to  hell  (2.25).  The 
place  and  the  mansions  are  of  course  in  the  Father's  house,  that 
is,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  not  on  earth,  etc.  (28).  No  man 
is  happier  than  the  Christian,  for  to  him  is  promised  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  {^Epistle  125.  i).  Abraham  and  other  rich  men  in  the 
Old  Testament,  though  rich,  entered  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  for 
they  were  rich  for  others  {^Against the  Pelagiatis,  1. 10).  He  appar- 
ently thinks  of  Paradise  in  two  senses,  for  in  Epistle  51.5  he  says  : 
"  Paradise  was  on  earth,  for  Adam  and  Eve  were  made  to  dwell 
over  against  Paradise  ;  "  and  in  Epistle  60.  3  :  "  Even  if  Lazarus 
is  seen  in  Abraham's  bosom,  still  the  lower  regions  cannot  be 
compared  with  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Before  Christ's  coming 
Abraham  is  in  the  lower  regions  ;  after  Christ's  coming  the  rob- 
ber is  in  Paradise This    [reward]    is  promised  us  in  the 

resurrection,  for  as  many  of  us  as  do  not  live  after  the  flesh  have 
our  citizenship  in  heaven,  and  while  still  here  on  earth  wc  are 
told  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  us."  In  Epistle  51.5 
he  has  a  characteristic  reference  to  Origen  :     "He  teaches  that 

74  [162 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  75 

the  devil  will  return  to  his  former  dignity  and  rise  again  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Apostles  and  prophets  co-heirs  of  the 
devil  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven!" 

"Thy  kingdom  come"  is  either  a  general  prayer  for  the 
kingdom  of  the  whole  world  that  the  reign  of  the  devil  may 
cease,  or  for  the  kingdom  in  each  of  us  that  God  may  reign 
there,  and  that  sin  may  not  reign  in  our  mortal  body  [Cate?ia). 
In  Epistle  46.  10,  in  speaking  of  the  advantage  of  pilgrimages  to 
Jerusalem  :  We  do  not  mean  to  deny  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  within  us,  or  to  say  that  there  are  no  holy  men  elsewhere. 
In  58.  3  :  Access  to  the  courts  of  heaven  is  as  easy  from  Britain 
as  it  is  from  Jerusalem,  for  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you. 
In  118.  4  occurs  one  of  the  rare  instances  in  which  the  kingdom 
is  personified:  "The  rich  find  it  hard  to  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  a  kingdom  which  desires  for  its  citizens  souls  that  soar 
aloft  free  from  all  ties  and  hindrances."  In  this  quotation,  and 
in  the  two  following,  is  the  nearest  approach  to  the  idea  of  the 
kingdom  as  the  Christian  society  :  Against  the  Ltcciferiatis,  4,  he 
quotes  Rev.  1:6:  "  Made  us  to  be  a  kingdom,"  etc. ;  and  in 
Epistle  22.  40,  on  Matt.  11:12,  "The  kingdom  suffereth  violence," 
he  says  :  "  Still,  unless  you  use  violence  you  will  never  seize  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  following  quotations  indicate  the  wide  range  of  ideas 
which  he  groups  under  the  kingdom:  "The  kingdom  of  God 
denotes  either  Himself,  of  whom  it  is  written  in  another  place, 
'The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you,' '  and,  'There  standeth  one 
in  the  midst  of  you  whom  ye  know  not ; '  or  surely  that  kingdom 
which  both  John  and  the  Lord  himself  had  preached,  'Repent, 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.'  There  is  also  a  third  king- 
dom, of  holy  Scripture,  which  shall  be  taken  from  the  Jews,"  etc. 
(  Catena  on  Matt.  12.  28).  Again,  from  the  Catena:  "  The  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures  which  leads  to  life,  concerning  which  it  is  said  to 
the  Jews,  'The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you.'   .... 

'In  this  passage  the  Catena  is  erroneously  translated,  "The  kingdom  of  God  is 
among  you;"  the  original  reads  intra  vos  as  usual,  with  the  meaning  "within  you," 
as  in  ail  the  Fathers  who  quote  the  verse. 

163 


76  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

'  His  Father's  kingdom,'  Matt.  26 :  29,  I  suppose  to  mean  the 
faith  of  believers.  When  the  Jews  shall  receive  his  Father's 
kingdom,  then  the  Lord  will  drink  of  their  vine." 

2.  RuFiNUS  seems  to  regard  the  kingdom  as  eschatological, 
celestial,  and  eternal.  In  his  Preface  to  the  Translation  of  Origens 
First  Prificiplcs:  "By  our  belief  in  the  coming  kingdom,  by  the 
assurance  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,"  etc.  On  the  Apos- 
tles Creed,  14  :  Christ  when  he  came  brought  three  kingdoms  at 
once  into  subjection  under  his  sway,  referred  to  in  Phil.  2:10, 
and  conquered  all  of  them  by  his  death.  In  34  and  39  he  dis- 
cusses the  clause,  "Of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end,"  He 
has  an  interesting  comment  in  sec,  7  on  Matt.  13  :  33,  47,  where 
the  kingdom  is  likened  to  leaven  and  to  a  net:  "Are  we  to  ima- 
gine that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  in  all  respects  like  leaven  ? 
Obviously  the  illustration  was  employed  simply  for  this:  to 
show  how,  through  the  preaching  of  God's  Word,  which  seems  so 
small  a  thing,  men's  minds  could  be  imbued  with  the  leaven  of 
faith.  So  likewise  in  13  :  47 — are  we  to  suppose  that  the  sub- 
stance of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  twine  ?  The  sole  object 
of  the  comparison  is  to  show  that,  as  a  net  brings  fishes  to  the 
shore  from  the  depths  of  the  sea,  so  by  the  preaching  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  men's  souls  are  liberated  from  the  depth  of 
the  error  of  this  world."  In  sec,  6  :  "Jesus  conducted  the  people, 
who  had  been  brought  forth  from  the  darkness  of  ignorance, 
and  recalled  from  the  errors  of  the  world,  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  Here  the  lack  of  a  note  of  time  makes  the  reference 
indefinite, 

3.  To  SuLPiTius  Severus  the  kingdom  is  ordinarily  the  celes- 
tial reward.  In  Epistle  i,  6  (a  doubtful  letter)  :  The  Son  of 
God  will  say  in  the  judgment,  "  I  promised  you  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;  I  also  placed  in  Paradise  the  robber  as  an  example  of 
escape  from  punishment,"  etc.  In  Epistle  2,  4  he  speaks  of  the 
reward  and  glory  to  be  obtained  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
which  no  one  can  obtain  who  does  not  deserve  eternal  life  by 
keeping  the  commandments.  In  the  Sacred  History ,  Book  2,  chap, 
3  :  The  Messiah  promised  by  Daniel  will  reduce  to  nothing  that 
world  in  which  exist  earthly  kingdoms,  and  will  establish  another 

164 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  77 

kingdom,  incorruptible  and  everlasting,  that  is,  the  future  world, 
which  is  prepared  for  the  saints.  The  faith  of  some  still  hesi- 
tates about  this  point  only,  while  they  do  not  believe  about 
things  yet  to  come,  though  they  are  convinced  of  the  things  that 
are  past.  In  the  preface  to  Desiderius  in  his  Life  of  St.  Martin; 
"The  kingdom  of  God  consists,  not  of  eloquence,  but  faith,"  — 
evidently  in  the  sense  of  the  gospel  or  the  Christian  life. 

4.  In  ViNCENTius  OF  Lerins  the  "children  of  the  kingdom" 
are  contrasted  with  those  who  "will  have  their  portion  in  hell" 
{^A  Comminitory ,  6),  and  in  26  the  expression  "the  inheritance 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  occurs,  both  indicating  the  celestial 
conception. 


165 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
AUGUSTINE. 

The  chief  works  of  Augustine  have  about  1,300  references 
to  the  kingdom,  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  number  in  the 
patristic  writings  under  consideration.  In  the  vast  range  of  his 
works  nearly  every  phase  of  the  kingdom  may  be  repeatedly  met 
with  ;  but  the  evangelical  view,  of  the  kingdom  as  the  community 
of  souls  born  anew  through  the  gospel,  is  ever  dominant.  In 
Augustine  this  view  takes  its  most  characteristic  form,  however, 
in  his  explicit,  though  carefully  modified,  identification  of  the 
kingdom  with  the  church,  which  is  found  in  several  of  his  treatises, 
but  most  fully  expressed  in  De  Civitate  Dei  and  in  his  Tractates  on 
the  Gospel  of  John.  This  view,  occasionally  traceable  in  patristic 
thought  from  the  time  of  Hermas,  is  nevertheless  found  even  in 
Augustine  in  close  connection  with  a  clear  distinction  between 
the  church  and  the  kingdom  ;  showing  that  the  kingdom  is  ge- 
neric and  the  church  only  its  distinctive  organized  form.  He 
thinks  also  of  the  kingdom  as  the  celestial  abode  ;  but  time  and 
place  are  incidental  and  uncertain  ;  to  be  in  a  state  of  salvation 
is  to  be  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  reign  of  God  in  the  soul 
is  always  assumed  of  the  members  of  the  kingdom,  but  the  social 
idea  receives  the  greater  emphasis.  A  certain  progress  of  his 
thought  of  the  kingdom  may  be  traced  in  his  writings,  and  these 
have  therefore  been  arranged  in  seven  groups,  as  far  as  possible 
with  reference  to  the  chronological  order  of  composition  of  each 
treatise. 

I.  Early  general  zvritings. —  In  his  earliest  Christian  compo- 
sition, the  Soliloquies,  the  single  reference  he  makes  to  the  king- 
dom is  prophetic  of  the  sweep  of  his  vision:  "God,  whose 
kingdom  is  that  whole  world  of  which  sense  has  no  ken  ;  God, 
from  whose  kingdom  a  law  is  even  derived  down  upon  these 
lower  realms"  (i.  3).  In  the  Co?}fessions,  Book  11.  2:  Let  me 
confess   unto   thee  whatsoever   I  shall  find  in   thy  books,   .... 

78  [106 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  79 

even  from  the  beginning,  wherein  thou  madest  the  heaven  and 
the  earth,  unto  the  everlasting  kingdom  [or  reign]  of  thy  holy 
city  with  thee. 

"They  are  peacemakers  who,  by  controlling  all  the   motions 

of  the  soul,  become  a  kingdom  of  God subject  to  Christ. 

From  a  kingdom  of  this  sort  brought  to  peace,  the  prince  of  this 
world  is  cast  out "  [Sermon  on  the  Mount,  Book  1.2).  In  the  king- 
dom of  him  who  came  to  fulfil  the  law,  one  will  bring  benevo- 
lence to  perfection  when  he  loves  an  enemy  (21 ).  "  Thy  kingdom 
come,"  that  is,  be  manifested  to  men.  As  a  light  which  is  pres- 
ent is  absent  to  the  blind,  or  to  those  that  close  their  eyes,  so 
the  kingdom  of  God,  though  it  never  departs  from  the  earth,  is 
yet  absent  to  those  who  are  ignorant  of  it.  But  no  one  will  be 
allowed  to  be  ignorant  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  when  the  Son 
shall  come  from  heaven  visibly  to  judgment.  The  coming  of 
his  kingdom  will  be  manifested,  not  after,  but  in  the  end  of  the 
world.  Let  us  ask  that  his  kingdom  may  come,  whether  it  be 
over  ourselves,  that  we  may  become  meek,  or  from  heaven  to 
earth  in  the  splendor  of  the  Lord's  advent  (Book  2.  6,  lo,  ii). 
It  is  evident  that  in  saying  above  that  the  kingdom  is  invisible  to 
some,  although  never  departing  from  the  earth,  he  did  not  have 
the  visible  church  in  mind. 

In  a  notable  passage  in  his  treatise  On  Holy  Virgi?iity,  24,  he 
speaks  thus  of  the  present  and  future  of  the  kingdom  :  "What 
else  remains  for  these  [who  misinterpret  Matt.  19:  12]  save  to 
assert  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  itself  pertains  unto  this  tem- 
poral life,  in  which  we  now  are  ?  For  why  should  not  blind  pre- 
sumption advance  even  to  this  madness  ?  And  what  more  full 
of  frenzy  than  this  assertion  ?  For  although  at  times  the  church, 
even  that  which  now  is,  is  called  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  cer- 
tainly it  is  so  called  for  this  end,  because  it  is  being  gathered 
together  for  a  future  and  eternal  life.  Although,  therefore,  it  has 
the  promise  of  the  present  and  of  a  future  life,  yet  in  all  its  good 
works  it  looks  not  to  the  things  that  are  seen,  etc.  (2  Cor.  4:18; 
I  Tim.  4  :  8)."  "  Why  contend  you  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  to  be  understood  in  this  life  only  ?"  (25).  In  chap.  9  of  the 
same  work  occurs  a  unique  designation  of  the  church  :   "  Now,  out 

167 


80  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

of  every  race  and  nation,  members  of  Christ  may  be  gathered 
unto  the  people  of  God,  and  city  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
In  this  first  group,  generally,  the  church  is  distinguished  from 
the  kingdom,  and  the  latter  is  often  future  or  celestial.  On  the 
Faith  of  Things  Not  Seen,  g  :  The  church,  which  we  discern  from 
the  toilsome  beginning  of  faith  even  unto  the  eternal  blessed- 
ness of  the  kingdom.  In  Christian  Doctrine,  37:  Christ  is  the 
head  of  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  destined  to  be  with  him 
in  his  eternal  kingdom  and  glory.  O71  the  Work  of  Monks,  8: 
Working  only  spiritual  works  in  the  preaching  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  and  edifying  of  the  peace  of  the  church.  In  the  Ser- 
?non  on  the  Moiuit,  i.  15  :  In  that  eternal  kingdom  there  are  no 
temporal  relationships  (as  of  father  and  mother).  In  1.8:  He 
that  is  called  least  in  Matt.  5  :  19  will  perhaps  not  be  in  the 
kingdom  at  all ;  the  one  called  great  is  also  in  the  kingdom. 
In  I.  4  is  another  conception  of  the  kingdom:  "In  the  beati- 
tudes the  one  reward,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  vari- 
ously named.  In  the  first  ....  it  is  the  perfect  wisdom  of 
the  soul,"  etc. 

2.  Against  the  Ma?iichceafis. —  In  this  group  the  kingdom  has 
two  distinct  meanings,  corresponding  to  present  and  future  time  : 
"  For  you  are  not  instructed  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  that  is,  in 
the  true  catholic  church  of  Christ,  as  the  Lord  said,  Matt.  13:  52. 
....  In  the  kingdom  of  heaven  there  are  those  who,  that  they 
may  be  perfect,  sell  or  leave  all,  and  follow  Christ,"  etc.  [Reply 
to  Faustus,  4.  I  ;  5.  9).  On  the  other  hand,  in  19.  30:  I  do  not 
find  in  the  Old  Testament  the  expression  "the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  This  expression  belongs  properly  to  the  revelation  of 
the  New  Testament,  because  in  the  resurrection  our  bodies  shall 
be  spiritual  bodies,  and  so  heavenly,  that  thus  we  may  possess 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  In  11.  8  :  We  no  longer  in  New  Testa- 
ment times  expect  a  temporal  or  carnal  kingdom  of  God ;  and 
all  things  are  become  new,  making  the  promise  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  where  there  shall  be  no  death  or  corruption,  the 
ground  of  our  confidence.  ...  In  the  hope  of  spiritual  things,  that 
is,  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  where  the  body  itself  will  be,  by 
the  change  in  the  resurrection,  a  spiritual  body.   In  22.  76  :    The 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  81 

doctrine  of  the  New  Testament  is  that  we  must  serve  God,  not 
for  temporal  happiness  in  this  life,  but  for  eternal  felicity  here- 
after. 

The  church  and  the  kins^dom  are  distinguished  from  each 
other  in  the  work  On  the  Nature  of  Good,  48  :  The  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  thy  holy  church.  In  the  Reply  to  Faustus, 
22.  67,  occurs  one  of  the  rare  instances  in  Augustine  of  the  king- 
dom in  the  soul  :  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  us,  Luke 
17:21;  and  we  must  worship  God  from  our  inmost  feelings 
instead  of  honoring  him  with  our  lips."  With  this  may  be  placed 
his  comment  on  Rom.  14:17  from  the  Cate?ia:  Wisdom  is  justi- 
fied of  her  children,  for  the  holy  apostles  understood  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  was  not  in  meat  and  drink,  but  in  patient 
enduring. 

3.  Against  the  Do?iatists.— The  Catholics,  says  Neander,  in  their 
controversy  with  the  Donatists,  distinguished  the  church  on 
earth,  in  which  genuine  and  spurious  members  are  mixed 
together,  from  the  purified  church  of  heaven ;  but,  failing  to  dis- 
tinguish the  conceptions  of  the  visible  and  the  invisible  church, 
they  gave  occasion  to  the  Donatists  of  charging  them  with  sup- 
posing the  existence  of  two  churches  ;  but  they  were  extremely 
uneasy  under  this  accusation,  and  would  allow  of  no  other  dis- 
tinction than  that  of  two  different  conditions,  mortal  and  immor- 
tal, of  one  and  the  same  church  '.  Thus,  although  the  idea  of  the 
invisible  church  is  at  the  center  of  this  controversy,  it  was  neither 
fully  grasped  nor  consistently  carried  out,  and  it  was  only  by 
Zwingli  in  1531  that  the  phrase  "the  invisible  church"  was  first 
used. 

In  the  writings  of  this  group  the  kingdom  is  regarded  as  the 
inheritance  in  heaven,  of  which  only  those  are  heirs  who  are 
really  members  of  the  church.  In  the  Correction  of  the  Donatists, 
2,  he  speaks  of  "the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  that  is  to  say,  the  true 
church  of  God."  From  this  expression  it  is  evident  how  easy 
is  the  transition  from  the  conception  of  the  kingdom  to  that  of 
the  church,  whether  on  earth  or  in  heaven.  In  similar  vein, 
apparently,  is  the  remark  Against  the  Epistles  of  Petilianus,  Book  2. 

'See  Neander,  History  of  the  Church,  Vol.  II,  pp.  246  ff. 
169 


82  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

55:  "  Many  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  God  who  do  not  cast  out 
devils."  Also  in  2.  85:  The  words  of  Christ,  "Beginning  at 
Jerusalem,"  etc.,  Luke  24  :  47,  show  forth  the  glory  which  he 
received  from  his  Father  in  the  wideness  of  his  kingdom.  The 
trend  of  the  argument  may  be  seen  in  the  following  quotations  : 
"Bad  men  may  have  baptism  but  do  not  belong  to  the  holy  church 
of  God,  though  they  seem  to  be  within  it.  Neither  does  the 
avaricious  man,  baptized  within  the  church,  become  the  temple 
of  God,  unless  he  depart  from  his  avarice  ;  for  they  who  become 
the  temple  of  God  certainly  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God"  [On  Bap- 
tism, agaitist  the  Donatists,  6.  3  ;  4.  4).  "The  sacrament  of  chrism 
can  exist  even  among  the  worst  of  men,  wasting  their  life  in 
the  works  of  the  flesh,  and  destined  never  to  possess  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  Such  men  are  not  in  the  body  of  Christ,  which 
is  the  church,  nor  within  the  constitution  of  the  church,  which 
increases  in  the  increase  of  God  in  its  members  through  connec- 
tion and  contact  with  Christ"  [Against  the  Epp.  of  Petil.  2.  105, 
109). 

4.  Agai?ist  the  Pelagiaiis.  —  In  this  group,  which  contains  his 
chief  controversial  writings,  his  strenuous  contention  is  that 
only  through  the  new  birth  by  water  and  Spirit  can  any  soul, 
infant  or  adult,  enter  the  kingdom  of  God,  that  is,  be  saved.  He 
constantly  quotes  John  3  :  3  and  5,  referring  to  the  latter  verse 
as  ''sententia  ilia  principalis''  meaning  perhaps  the  chief  Scriptural 
utterance  concerning  the  kingdom.  The  kingdom  is  therefore 
the  state  of  salvation,  and  time  and  place  are  secondary,  although 
the  references  are  usually  cast  in  the  celestial  form.  But  in  this 
group  the  present  existence  of  the  kingdom  is  made  especially 
prominent  by  the  repeated  quotation  of  Col.  1:13:  "Who  deliv- 
ered us  ...  .  and  translated  us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  Son." 
We  are  therefore  already  in  the  kingdom,  even  if  this  obvious 
result  is  not  always  consistently  adhered  to.  The  church,  now 
in  process  of  cleansing,  is  to  remain  in  purity  for  ever  in  the  king- 
dom ;  Augustine  does  not  say  in  this  connection  whether  it  is 
already  in  the  kingdom,  nor  further  define  its  relation  to  the 
kingdom.  The  Pelagians  held  that  infants  were  baptized,  not 
for  sin,  but  in  order  to  enter  the   kingdom  of  heaven,  which  was 

170 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  83 

either  "Paradise"  or  some  of  the  mansions  of  the  Father's 
house,  not  strictly  within  the  kingdom  of  God.  Augustine 
insists  that  the  Father's  house  must  not  be  thus  divided;  that 
outside  the  kingdom  of  God  there  is  no  place  of  salvation. 

In  the  prayer,  "Thy  kingdom  come,"  that  is  called  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  which  his  whole  family  shall  reign  with  him  in 
happiness  and  forever.  He  now  reigns  over  all.  Therefore, 
what  is  in  "Thy  kingdom  come"  but  that  we  may  deserve  to 
reign  with  him  ?  The  lost  will  be  under  his  power,  but  will  they 
be  in  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  It  is  one  thing  to  be  honored  with 
the  gifts  and  privileges  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  another 
thing  to  be  restrained  and  punished  by  the  laws  of  the  same.  It 
is  not  necessary  now  to  raise  and  discuss  the  question  whether 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  have  the  same 
meaning.  It  is  enough  to  find  (John  3:3,  5)  that  no  one  can 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  except  he  be  washed  in  the  laver 
of  regeneration.  Separate  not  then  from  the  kingdom  of  God 
any  mansions  that  are  placed  in  the  house  of  God  [0?i  the  Sotd 
and  its  Origin,  3.  17).  The  kingdom  of  the  Most  High  in 
Daniel  is,  of  course,  none  other  than  the  kingdom  of  God;  other- 
wise anyone  might  boldly  contend  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
one  thing  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  another  [Acts  of  Pelagitis, 
15).  In  28:  Between  the  laver  and  the  kingdom,  where  the 
church  will  remain  forever  without  any  spot  or  wrinkle,  there  is 
this  intermediate  time  of  prayer,  during  which  her  cry  must  of 
necessity  be,  "  Forgive  us  our  debts."  The  church,  now  in  pro- 
cess of  cleaning,  shall  continue  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  for- 
ever in  a  sinless  state. 

Exsufflation  (at  baptism)  is  intended  to  show  that  souls  were 
not  removed  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ  without  first  being 
delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness  {0?i  Marriage  and  Concu- 
piscence, 2.  50).  There  is  a  curious  circling  of  ideas  in  the  work 
On  Forgiveness  of  Sins  and  Baptis?n,  i.  15,  where  he  says  that 
original  sin  "not  only  excludes  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  but 
also  alienates  from  salvation  and  everlasting  life,  which  cannot 
be  anything  else  than  the  kingdom  of  God.  "  In  the  Gift  of  Per- 
severance, 5  :  "'Thy   kingdom  come,'  that    is,    to  us,  which    will 

171 


84  HISTOEICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

come  to  all  saints.  The  kingdom  of  God  will  come  only  to 
those  who  persevere  to  the  end."  In  chap.  6  occurs  a  thought 
common  in  Chrysostom  :  '"Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,'"  may  be 
for  a  beginning,  that  is,  that  earth  may  imitate  heaven,  man  the 
angel,  the  disbeliever  the  believer.  Or,  it  may  be  a  prayer  for 
perseverance." 

5.  The  City  of  God.  —  As  noted  in  the  Introduction,  this 
work,  sometimes  reckoned  the  greatest  monument  of  the 
patristic  age,  is  a  philosophy  of  history,  a  treatise  on  the  divine 
government,  with  the  church  as  the  central  fact  of  both.  It 
treats  of  God's  kingdom  in  its  distinctive  form  of  organization. 
The  civitas  is  two-sided,  the  two  sides  being  the  regmim  and  the 
ccclesia.  The  church  is  called  the  kingdom,  not  merely  in 
anticipation,  but  because  it  is  already,  on  earth  and  in  heaven, 
an  important,  if  not  the  essential,  part  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
The  church  is  the  embodiment  of  the  coming  kingdom.  In  De 
Civitatc  Dei  the  great  thoughts  of  the  patristic  age  concerning 
the  kingdom  are  focalized.  To  live  after  the  Spirit,  to  love  God 
rather  than  self  and  one's  neighbor  as  himself,  is  the  character 
of  the  citizen  of  the  kingdom;  "for  the  life  of  the  civitas  is  a 
social  life."  Nowhere  is  the  social  element  of  the  kingdom 
more  eloquently  urged,  and  the  effect  is  not  weakened,  even 
though  the  writer's  vision  is  broad  and  clear  enough  to  compass 
both  the  present  life  and  the  life  beyond. 

We  may  cite  first  a  sentiment  which  reminds  of  Hermas  ; 
"  A  house  is  being  built  to  the  Lord  in  all  the  earth,  even  the 
city  of  God,  which  is  the  holy  church.  Men  through  faith  are 
living  stones  in  the  house"  (8.  24).  It  is  good  to  draw  near  to 
God.  And  those  who  have  this  good  in  common  have,  both 
with  him  to  whom  they  draw  near,  and  with  one  another,  a  holy 
fellowship,  and  form  one  city  of  God:  his  living  sacrifice,  and 
his  living  temple.  There  are  no  more  than  two  kinds  of  human 
society,  which  we  may  justly  call  two  cities  :  the  one  of  those 
who  wish  to  live  after  the  flesh,  the  other  of  those  who  wish  to 
live  after  the  spirit.  This  is  the  great  difference  which  distin- 
guishes the  two  cities :  the  one  is  the  society  of  the  godly,  the 
other  of    the   ungodly ;    each   associated   with    the    angels    that 

172 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  85 

adhere  to  their  party  ;  and  the  one  guided  and  fashioned  by 
love  of  self,  the  other  by  love  of  God  (i2.  9;  1 4.  I,  13).  The 
life  of  the  wise  man  must  be  social.  For  how  could  the  city  of 
God  either  take  a  beginning  or  be  developed  or  attain  its  proper 
destiny,  if  the  life  of  the  saints  were  not  a  social  life  ?  But  who 
can  enumerate  all  the  great  grievances  with  which  human 
society  abounds  in  the  misery  of  this  mortal  state  ?  Who  can 
weigh  them  ?  The  heavenly  city,  or  rather  the  part  of  it  which 
sojourns  on  earth  and  lives  by  faith,  makes  use  of  peace.  It 
lives  like  a  captive  and  a  stranger  in  the  earthly  city,  obeying 
the  laws,  calling  citizens  out  of  all  nations.  It  avails  itself  of 
the  peace  of  earth  and  makes  it  bear  upon  the  peace  of  heaven. 
In  its  pilgrim  state  it  possesses  this  peace  by  faith,  and  by  this 
faith  it  lives  righteously  when  it  refers  to  the  attainment  of  the 
peace  of  heaven  every  good  action  toward  God  and  man  ;  for 
the  life  of  the  city  is  a  social  life  (19.  5,  17). 

The  ninth  chapter  of  Book  31  contains  some  of  his  most  sig- 
nificant utterances  on  the  subject.  While  the  devil  is  bound, 
the  saints  reign  with  Christ  during  the  thousand  years,  which  is 
the  time  between  his  first  and  second  coming.  They  shall 
gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  offenses  (Matt.  13  :  41).  Can  he 
mean  out  of  that  kingdom  in  which  are  no  offenses  ?  Then  it 
must  be  out  of  his  present  kingdom,  the  church,  that  they  are 
gathered.  In  Matt.  5  :  19  he  speaks  of  both  great  and  least  as 
being  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  immediately  adds, 
"Except  your  righteousness  exceed,  ye  shall  not  enter."  We 
must  understand  in  one  sense  the  kingdom  of  heaven  in  which 
the  least  and  the  great  exist  together,  and  in  another  sense  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  into  which  shall  enter  he  who  does  what  he 
teaches.  Consequently,  where  both  classes  exist  it  is  the 
church  as  it  now  is,  but  where  only  the  one  shall  exist  it  is  the 
church  as  it  is  destined  to  be  when  no  wicked  person  shall  be 
therein.  Therefore  the  church  even  now  is  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  His  saints,  but  not  "the 
tares,"  reign  with  him  in  a  sense  even  now,  who  are  in  his  king- 
dom in  such  a  way  that  they  are  themselves  his  kingdom. 

The  following  points  are  important  as  bearing  upon  his  view 
173 


86  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

of  the  future  life  :  The  souls  of  the  pious  dead  reign  with 
Christ  and  are  not  separated  from  the  church,  though  not  as 
yet  restored  to  their  bodies  (31,9).  The  thousand  years  is  the 
whole  interval  during  which  the  first  resurrection  is  going  on. 
He  that  heareth  hath  everlasting  life  ;  that  is,  by  having  part  in 
the  first  resurrection,  by  which  a  transition  from  death  to  life  is 
made  in  this  present  time  (31.  9;  20.  6).  The  city  of  Rev. 
21  :  2  is  said  to  come  down  out  of  heaven,  because  the  grace 
with  which  God  formed  it  is  of  heaven.  There  are  many  obscure 
passages  in  the  Apocalypse,  but  that  he  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  is  plain  and  refers  to  the  future  world  (31.  17).  This 
world  shall  pass  away  by  transmutation,  not  by  absolute 
destruction;  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away  (i  Cor.  7  : 
31)  (14).  In  the  great  conflagration  the  world  is  renewed  to 
some  better  thing,  as  we  ourselves  also  (16). 

6.  O/i  the  Psalms. —  It  is  significant  of  the  way  in  which  the 
kingdom  entered  into  the  fiber  of  his  thought  that  even  his 
voluminous  discourses  on  the  Psalms  abound  in  references  to  it, 
containing  indeed  a  larger  proportion  of  references  to  the  king- 
dom than  his  other  writings.  In  this  work  the  kingdom  has 
usually  the  meaning  of  the  future  celestial  reward ;  but  nearly 
all  the  other  conceptions  occur  along  with  it.  The  kingdom  in 
the  soul  is  thus  beautifully  described  in  78.  29:  "Translated 
into  the  kingdom,  Col.  1:13.  This  cometh  to  pass  to  so  much 
the  greater  good,  as  it  is  a  more  inward  thing,  wherein  being 
delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness,  we  are  in  mind  translated 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  God's  sheep  in  spiritual  pastures, 
our  faith  observable  to  none,  our  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
Here  it  is  evident  that  to  have  the  kingdom  within  is  to  be 
within  the  kingdom.  In  149.  3:  True  Zion  or  Jerusalem  is 
the  church  of  the  saints,  in  part  a  pilgrim,  in  part  abiding  in  the 
heavens.  In  126.  2:  Man  was  a  citizen  of  Jerusalem,  but 
sold  under  sin  he  became  a  pilgrim.  This  whole  life  of  human 
affairs  is  confusion,  which  belongeth  not  unto  God.  In  129.  3: 
How  great  evils  do  we  endure,  how  great  are  the  scandals  that 
every  day  thicken,  as  the  wicked  enter  into  the  church  and  we 
have  to  endure  them  ! 

17i 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  87 

But  the  kingdom  is  coming.  In  145.  11:  "Thy  kingdom 
come.  For  that  kingdom  which  we  desire  ma}^  come,  that 
kingdom  the  saints  proclaim  to  be  coming."  Thus  the  king- 
dom is  a  coming  kingdom, 

"  .  .  .  .  till  one  greater  Man 
Restore  us,  and  regain  the  blissful  seat." 
In  72.  17  occurs  a  thought  from  Cyprian  :  "Thy  kingdom  come. 
That  for  which  we  pray  is  perhaps  concerning  Christ  himself. 
For  Christ's  coming  shall  make  present  to  believers  the  king- 
dom of  God."  We  are  again  reminded  of  Hermas,  and  perhaps 
in  turn  of  Zech.  9:12,  "Turn  ye  to  the  stronghold,  ye  prisoners 
of  hope!"  in  61.  4:  "Christ  himself  is  the  tower,  ....  also 
the  rock  whereon  hath  been  builded  the  church.  Before  thee  is 
the  tower:  call  to  mind  and  go  into  the  tower."  A  reference 
to  the  intermediate  state  is  found  in  37.  10:  Come,  inherit  the 
kingdom.  Thou  shalt  not  be  there  at  once,  but  laid  in  that 
place  of  rest  (as  Lazarus  in  Luke  16)  thou  waitest  in  security 
for  the  day  of  judgment,  when  thou  art  to  receive  again  a  body 
and  be  made  equal  to  an  angel. 

The  following  illustrate  the  use  of  the  kingdom  in  the  sense 
of  heaven.  In  69.  2  :  The  passing  both  of  Christ  and  of  our- 
selves is  hence  to  the  Father,  from  this  world  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  In  78.  3  :  The  land  of  promise  is  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  whereunto  the  Christian 
people  is  being  led.  In  104.  36:  If  thou  fearest  hell,  and 
lovest  the  kingdom  of  God,  watch.  In  147.  8:  Within  these 
walls  are  more  than  will  be  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem.  The  kingdom  is  used  for  the  state  of  sal- 
vation in  112.  3  :  Zaccheus  bought  the  kingdom  of  heaven  for 
half  his  goods  and  the  widow  for  two  mites,  each  possessing 
an  equal  share.  The  same  kingdom  is  worth  treasures  to  the 
rich  man  and  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  the  poor. 

The  church  is  probably  the  same  as  the  kingdom  in  the  two 
following:  In  57.  12:  The  kingdom  of  Christ  we  see:  where 
is  the  kingdom  of  the  Jews?  In  45.  12:  The  martyrs  have 
suffered ;  and  the  kingdom  of  God  has  made  much  progress 
from  thence,  and  advanced  throughout  all  nations.     The   two 

175 


88  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

are  distinguished  in  109.  i  :  To  the  church  as  a  whole  he  gave 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom.  On  Ps.  110:2:  "The  Lord  shall 
send  the  rod  of  thy  power  out  of  Zion,"  he  says  :  "  The  prophet 
is  not  speaking  of  that  kingdom  of  Christ  in  which  he  reigneth 
for  ever  with  his  Father,  for  when  doth  not  God  the  Word  reign, 
who  is  in  the  beginning  with  God?  But  that  reign  of  temporal 
government,  by  which,  through  the  mediation  of  his  flesh,  he 
called  us  into  eternity,  beginneth  with  Christians  ;  of  his  reign 
there  shall  be  no  end." 

7.  Later  miscellaneous  writings. —  As  already  stated,  the  most 
important  of  these  as  bearing  on  the  kingdom  is  the  commentary 
on  the  gospel  of  John,  in  a  series  of  Tractates.  Of  the  more  than 
four  hundred  references  to  the  kingdom  in  this  last  group  of 
Augustine's  works,  about  two-thirds  are  in  Scriptural  quotations. 
The  general  tenor  of  the  group  is  similar  to  that  of  his  other  writ- 
ings, with  many  supplementary  thoughts  rather  than  essentially 
different  ideas.  He  frequently  recognizes  two  or  more  inter- 
pretations of  a  passage  of  Scripture,  notably  of  "  Thy  kingdom 
come." 

"  He  is  in  a  certain  sense  preparing  the  dwellings  by  preparing 
for  them  the  dwellers.  Ye  are  God's  temple.  This  is  also  the 
kingdom  of  God  which  the  Son  is  to  deliver  up  to  the  Father. 
The  kingdom  will  shine  forth  in  the  kingdom  when  the  kingdom 
shall  have  reached  the  kingdom.  But  the  realm  is  not  yet 
reigning.  Accordingly  it  is  already  so  far  a  kingdom  that  when 
all  offenses  shall  have  been  gathered  out  of  it,  it  shall  then 
attain  to  sovereignty,  so  as  to  possess,  not  merely  the  name  of 
kingdom,  but  also  the  power  of  government.  For  it  is  to  this 
kingdom,  standing  then  at  the  right  hand,  that  it  shall  be  said 
in  the  end,  'Come,  receive  the  kingdom  ; '  that  is,  ye  who  were 
a  kingdom,  but  without  the  power  to  rule,  come  and  reign  ;  that 
what  you  formerly  were  only  in  hope,  you  may  now  have  the 
power  to  be  in  reality.  This  house  of  God,  therefore,  this 
temple  of  God,  this  kingdom  of  God  and  kingdom  of  heaven,  is 
as  yet  in  the  process  of  building,  of  construction,  of  prepara- 
tion, of  assembling"  [Tractate  on  John,  68.  2). 

If  this  brilliant  passage,  with  its  thoroughly  evangelical  tone, 
170 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  89 

and  the  many  similar  utterances  of  Augustine,  were  not  over- 
looked, it  is  probable  that  the  modern  vogue  of  belittling  the 
Fathers'  view  of  the  kingdom  would  have  less  currency.  It 
may  readily  be  granted  that  Augustine  was  unduly  influenced 
both  by  his  view  of  the  visible  church  and  by  the  somewhat 
disheartening  spectacle  of  an  empire  falling  to  pieces;  but  to 
blame  him  too  severely  for  his  characteristic  views  of  the  king- 
dom, to  charge  him  with  despairing  of  the  renewal  of  society, 
and  with  "  turning  away  from  the  task  of  elaborating  an  ideal  of 
a  social  state  influenced  by  Christian  principles,"  is  not  only  to 
do  him  injustice,  but  to  direct  attention  to  the  feebleness  of  the 
attempts  to  improve  upon  him.  To  say  that  "  the  great  Fathers 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  had  little  influence  on  society" 
is  to  run  serious  risk  of  being  challenged  to  produce  three  men 
of  any  age  whose  social  influence  was  more  direct  and  pungent 
than  that  of  Ambrose,  Chrysostom,  and  Augustine. 

"What  is  his  kingdom  save  those  who  believe  in  him,  to 
whom  he  says,  'Ye  are  not  of  this  world'?  ....  Of  the  world 
are  all  mankind,  created  indeed  by  the  true  God,  but  generated 
from  Adam  as  a  vitiated  and  condemned  stock  ;  the  regenerated 
in  Christ  are  made  into  a  kingdom  no  longer  of  the  world" 
(115.  I,  2).  He  ever  reigns,  indeed,  with  the  Father.  But  the 
prophets^  foretold  his  kingdom  according  to  that  wherein  he  is 
Christ  made  man,  and  has  made  his  faithful  ones  Christians. 
As  if  he  had  answered  the  question  in  Acts  1:6:  "You  wish 
that  I  should  manifest  the  kingdom  now  :  let  me  first  gather 
what  I  may  manifest"  (25,  2).  The  first  three  petitions  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer  ask  for  blessings  that  are  to  be  enjoyed  for  ever ; 
which  are  indeed  begun  in  the  world,  and  grow  in  us  as  we  grow 
in  grace  {^Enchiridion,  1 15).  We  pray  that  his  kingdom  may 
come  in  us  ;  that  we  may  be  found  in  it.  We  ought  to  be  in  his 
kingdom  always,  to  do  his  will  always  {^Sermoiis  oti  New  Testa- 
ment Lessoiis,  6.  7,  19).  In  81.  6:  The  church  at  present  is  an 
inn  ;  it  will  be  a  home  whence  we  shall  never  remove,  when  in 

'See  Fremantle,  pp.  146  f.,  329  f. 

=  This  indicates  that  Augustine  regarded  their  prophecies  of  the  kingdom  as 
spiritual  rather  than  external  and  eschatologicai. 

177 


90  HISTOEICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

perfect  health  we  shall  have  reached  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Onjo/m,  7.  21  :  Christ  perceived  Nathaniel  to  belong  to  His 
church.  In  Epistle  130.  2:  While  he  was  still  on  earth  he 
brought  Zaccheus,  though  rich,  into  His  kingdom. 

He  deplores  the  corruption  in  the  church:  "For  whence 
exist  in  the  church  the  great  evils  under  which  we  groan,  save 
tor  the  impossibility  of  withstanding  the  enormous  multitude 
which,  almost  to  the  entire  subversion  of  discipline,  gain  an 
entrance,  with  their  morals  so  utterly  at  variance  with  the  path- 
way of  the  saints?  ....  He  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  as  the  church  now  exists,  shall  not  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  as  the  church  shall  be  hereafter,  Matt.  5  :  19,  20" 
[On  John,  122,  7,  9).  But  the  church  itself  is  not  corrupted. 
In  Epistle  91.  3:  Now  the  churches  which  are  multiplying 
throughout  the  world  are,  as  it  were,  seminaries  of  public  instruc- 
tion for  morality  and  above  all  for  the  worship  of  God,  who 
commands,  and  gives  grace  to  perform,  all  those  things  by  which 
the  soul  of  man  is  furnished  and  fitted  for  fellowship  with  God, 
and  for  dwelling  in  the  eternal  heavenly  kingdom.  In  Serjnons 
on  New  Testament  Lessons,  30.  8  :  Troublous  times  !  such  as  we  are, 
such  are  the  times.  But  what  can  we  do  ?  We  cannot,  it  may 
be,  convert  the  mass  of  men  to  a  good  life.  But  let  the  few  who 
do  give  ear  live  well,  and  endure  the  many  who  live  ill.  The 
corn  in  the  floor  has  the  chaff,  but  will  not  have  it  in  the  barn. 
Evils  abound  in  the  world,  in  order  that  the  world  may  not 
engage  our  love.  The  world  itself  is  good  :  evil  men  make  it 
evil.  When  the  Winnower  comes,  there  will  be  a  bodily  separa- 
tion, which  a  spiritual  separation  now  precedes.  In  7.  6  :  "  '  Thy 
will  be  done*  may  be  understood  in  many  ways.  We  wish  well 
for  our  enemies,  that  they,  too,  ma}'  believe  and  become  Chris- 
tians." It  is  sometimes  forgotten  that  this  last  is  a  sentiment  of 
Augustine. 

In  regard  to  some  of  the  Last  Things,  he  says  :  All  the  dead 
are  sleeping;  but  the  good,  in  joy;  the  evil,  in  torments.  The 
church  possesses  the  faithful  dead  in  peaceful  sleep  {On  John, 
49.  122).  The  saints  shall  succeed  to  the  place  of  the  fallen 
angels,  and  shall  dwell  forever  in  that  peaceful  abode  from  which 

ITS 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  91 

they  fell.  After  the  resurrection  and  final  judgment  there  will 
be  two  kingdoms,  Christ's  and  the  devil's,  each  with  its  own  dis- 
tinct boundaries,  both  consisting  of  angels  and  of  men  [E7ich{ri- 
dion,  30.  III.)  Here  Origen's  speculation  as  to  universal  restora- 
tion is  excluded. 

With  all  his  learning,  Augustine  remained  a  learner.  In  the 
Senno7is  on  New  Testament  Lesso7is,  35.  9,  he  says:  An  end  there 
will  be  to  all  earthly  kingdoms.  If  the  end  be  now,  God  know- 
eth.  In  lh.Q  Epistle  to  Optatus,'^:  "I  would  rather  know  when 
the  desire  of  all  nations  shall  come  and  when  the  kingdom  of 
the  saints  will  be,  than  how  my  soul  came  to  its  earthly  abode, 
much  as  I  desire  to  know  this." 


179 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
CASSIAX. 

In  this  monk  of  Bethlehem  and  of  Marseilles  we  meet  with 
some  of  the  most  definite  statements  concerning  the  spiritual 
nature  of  the  kingdom.  He  was  also  a  leader  of  the  Semi-Pela- 
gians, holding  that  "  the  good  that  we  do  depends  partly  on 
grace  and  partly  on  free-will."  In  a  tour  of  seven  years  with  a 
friend,  Germanus,  among  the  monasteries  of  Egypt  he  diligently 
conferred  with  their  abbots,  and  many  years  later  wrote  his 
book  of  twenty-four  Co?ifere?ices,  which  may  be  in  part  ideal  com- 
positions of  Cassian  himself.  These  display  an  exceptional 
insight  into  the  kingdom  regarded  as  God's  rule  in  men's  souls. 
While  the  stress  is  laid  upon  the  individual  side,  the  primary 
view  of  the  kingdom  as  the  company  of  those  who  have  this 
divine  life  within  them  is  recognized.  His  concrete  view,  usu- 
ally, however,  takes  the  kingdom  as  the  reward  in  heaven.  In 
his  Institutes  of  Monks,  Book  12.  15  :  "  Fixing  their  gaze  on  those 
whom  they  knew  to  be  really  free  from  sin  and  already  in  the 
enjoyment  of  eternal  bliss  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  On  the 
hicarfiation,  against  Nestorius,  Book  1.3:  "The  Pelagians  say  that 
men  can  reach  the  heavenly  kingdom  by  their  own  exertions." 
In  Book  3.  12:  "It  is  clear  that  none  can  enter  the  gate  of  the 
kingdom  save  one  to  whom  the  key  bestowed  on  the  churches  is 
revealed  by  you  (Peter)."  In  comparison  with  the  church  the 
monastery  and  convent  have  naturally  a  high  estimate  in 
Cassian.  As  generally  in  the  Fathers  whose  spiritual  view  of 
the  kingdom  is  conspicuous,  regarding  it  as  an  ethical  fact  and 
force  of  eternal  validity,  there  is  an  almost  imperceptible  transi- 
tion to  and  from  the  idea  of  reward  in  a  state  of  bliss.  Alterna- 
tive meanings  are  often  recognized.  The  following  references 
are  from  the  Co?iferences. 

In  the  First  Conference  of  the  Abbot  Moses,  i:  "The  end  of 
our  profession  is  the  kingdom  of  God  or  the  kingdom  of  heaven; 
but  the  immediate  aim  or  goal  is  purity   of  heart."      In   chap.  5: 

92  [180 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  93 

"The  end  indeed  is  eternal  life  as  the  apostle  declares,  Rom. 
6.  22:  but  the  immediate  goal  is  purity  of  heart,  which  he  calls 
sanctification,"  etc.  In  chap.  9  certain  notes  of  a  true  Christian 
society  are  well  indicated  :  "The  Lord  promises  the  reward  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  to  these  works  of  mercy,  etc.,  when  he  says, 
•Come,  ye  blessed,' in  Matt.  25:34.  How,  then,  shall  these 
works  be  taken  away,  which  admit  the  doers  of  them  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven?"  The  abbot  answers:  "Not  the 
reward,  but  the  doing  of  these  things  will  come  to  an  end. 
For  what  you  call  works  of  religion  and  mercy  are  needful 
in  this  life,  while  these  inequalities  and  differences  of  con- 
dition still  prevail ;  but  even  here  wc  should  not  look  for 
them  to  be  performed,  unless  such  a  large  proportion  of  poor, 
needy,  and  sick  folk  abounded,  which  is  brought  about  by 
the  wickedness  of  men,  viz.:  of  those  who  have  grasped  and  kept 
for  their  own   use,  without  however  using  them,    those   things 

which  were  granted  to  all  by  the  Creator  of  all  alike In 

the  life  to  come  this  will  give  way  to  the  love  of  God  and  con- 
templation, where  equality  will  reign,"  etc.  And  that  such  a 
"life  to  come"  is  conceivable  on  earth  seems  to  follow  from 
such  passages  as  the  following,  from  chap.  13,  on  The  King- 
dom of  God  and  the  Kingdom  of  the  Devil:  "  For  everything 
depends  on  the  inward  frame  of  mind,  and  when  the  devil  has 
been  expelled  from  this,  and  sins  no  longer  reign  in  it,  it  follows 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  founded  in  us,  as  the  evangelist  says, 
Luke  17:20,21.  But  nothing  else  can  be  'within  you'  but 
knowledge  or  ignorance  of  truth,  and  delight  either  in  vice  or  in 
virtue,  through  which  we  prepare  a  kingdom  for  the  devil  or  for 
Christ  in  our  heart;  and  of  this  the  apostle  describes  the  charac- 
ter, when  he  says,  Rom.  14:  17,  'The  kingdom  of  God  is  not 
meat  and  drink,'  etc.  And  so,  if  the  kingdom  is  within  us,  and 
the  actual  kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy, 
then  the  man  who  abides  in  these  is  most  certainly  in  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and,  on  the  contrary,  those  who  live  in  unright- 
eousness have  their  place  in  the  kingdom  of  the  devil,  and  in  hell 
and  death.  For  by  these  tokens  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the 
kingdom  of  the  devil  are  distinguished." 

181 


94  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

There  follows  in  the  same  chapter  a  shading  off  of  the 
thought  of  the  kingdom  from  this  vivid  sense  of  it  as  a  present 
reality,  first  to  the  celestial  view,  then  to  a  threefold  aspect  of 
the  kingdom  in  the  abstract  or  formal  sense  of  dominion.  "The 
apostle  does  not  say  that  every  joy  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  but 

that  joy  alone  which  is  in  the  Holy  Ghost The  heavenly 

powers  on  high,  who  are  truly  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  are  in 

perpetual  joy In  fact  the  kingdom  of  heaven  must  be 

taken  in  a  threefold  sense :  either  that  the  heavens  shall  reign, 
that  is,  the  saints  over  other  things  subdued,  according  to  Luke 
19:17  and  Matt.  19  :  28  ;  or  the  heavens  themselves  shall  begin 
to  be  reigned  over  by  Christ,  when  all  things  are  subdued  unto 
him  and  God  begins  to  be  all  in  all ;  or  else  that  the  saints  shall 
reign  in  heaven  with  the  Lord." 

"  Thy  kingdom  come."  The  pure  heart  desires  that  the  king- 
dom of  its  Father  may  come  at  once,  namely :  either  that 
whereby  Christ  reigns  day  by  day  in  the  saints,  which  comes  to 
pass  when  the  devil's  rule  is  cast  out  of  our  hearts  and  God 
begins  to  hold  sway  by  virtues  ;  or  else  that  which  is  promised 
in  due  time  to  all  who  are  perfect,  when  Christ  will  say,  "  Come, 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father"  {First  Cotif.  of  Isaac,  9.  19).  Those 
cannot  see  Christ  coming  in  his  kingdom  who  are  still  in  a  state 
of  Jewish  weakness,  not  able  to  say,  "  Now  we  know  him  " 
(2  Cor.  5  :  16),  but  only  those  who  are  able  to  look  on  him  with 
pure  eyes  of  the  soul  [Seco?id  Coiif.  of  Isaac,  6.  10).  Those  who 
show  a  splendid  violence,  not  to  others,  but  to  their  own  soul, 
by  a  laudable  violence  seize  upon  the  kingdom  of  heaven  {of 
Abraham  26.  24).  In  the  First  of  Chceremon,  6.  11,  the  kingdom 
is  regarded  as  the  reward  of  virtue,  and  thus  naturally  placed 
lower  than  virtue  itself,  God's  kingdom  in  the  soul.  "Three 
things  enable  men  to  control  their  faults:  (i),  a  fear  of  hell  or 
of  the  laws ;  (2),  the  hope  and  desire  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ; 
(3),  a  liking  for  goodness  itself  and  the  love  of  virtue." 

A  passage  of  singular  beauty  and  significance,  recognizing  the 
inherent  weakness  of  the  monastic  idea,  is  found  in  Piamun, 
16.  18:  "Unless  our  mind  is  strengthened  by  the  power  of  his 
protection   who   says   in   the   gospel,  '  The  kingdom  of  God  is 

182 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  95 

within  you,'  in  vain  do  we  fancy  that  we  can  defeat  the  plots  of 
our  airy  foe  by  the  aid  of  men  who  are  living  with  us,  or  that 
we  can  avoid  them  by  distance  of  place,  or  exclude  them  by  the 

protection  of  walls For  just  as  '  The  kingdom  of  God  is 

within  you,'  so  '  A  man's  foes  are  they  of  his  own  household.' 
For  no  one  is  more  my  enemy  than  my  own  heart,  which  is  truly 
the  one  of  my  household  closest  to  me.  Where  those  of  our 
own  household  are  not  opposed  to  us,  there  also  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  secured  in  peace  of  heart." 


183 


CHAPTER    XX. 
LEO    THE    GREAT    AND    GREGORY    THE    GREAT 

I.  The  references  of  Leo  to  the  kingdom,  in  the  selection  of 
letters  and  sermons  here  considered,  are  for  the  most  part  celes- 
tial. He  does  not  apparently  think  of  the  church  as  the  king- 
dom. In  Epistle  162:  "The  Catholic  faith,  that  solid  rock  on 
which  the  city  of  God  is  built."  In  Sermon  3.  3:  Peter  is  the 
doorkeeper  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  In  73.  2  :  To  Peter 
beyond  the  rest  the  care  of  the  Lord's  flock  is  intrusted,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  keys  of  the  kingdom.  In  33.  5  :  Whoso  lives  reli- 
giously in  the  church  is  like  the  heavenly  light.  Help  one 
another,  that  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  is  reached  by  right 
faith  and  good  works,  you  may  shine  as  the  sons  of  light.  In 
54.  7:  He  opens  the  way  to  heaven,  and  by  the  punishment  of 
the  cross  prepares  for  you  the  steps  of  ascent  to  the  kingdom. 
In  95.  5  :  "They  shall  inherit  the  earth."  This  is  not  distinct 
from  our  heavenly  dwelling,  since  it  is  no  other  than  these  who 
are  understood  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  "  earth  " 
is  the  flesh  of  the  saints,  which  will  be  changed  in  the  resurrec- 
tion, so  as  to  be  in  complete  harmony  with  the  soul,  etc. 

In  certain  passages  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God  is 
regarded  as  a  present  reality,  but  evidently  more  in  the  sense  of 
dominion  than  of  the  subjects  who  compose  the  realm.  In 
Sermon  21.3:  "Thou  wert  rescued  from  the  power  of  darkness 
and  brought  out  into  God's  light  and  kingdom.  Do  not  again 
subject  thyself  to  the  devil's  thraldom."  In  66.  7:  "Christ,  the 
true  light,  rescues  from  the  power  of  darkness  and  transfers  us 
into  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God  (Col.  i  :  13)."  In  90.  3  : 
"  'Thy  kingdom  come:'  i.  e.  that  God  may  subdue  those  whom  he 
has  not  subdued,  and  make  men  on  earth  ministers  of  his  will. 
In  seeking  this  we  love  God  and  also  our  neighbor:  our  love 
has  but  one  object,  that  the  servant  may  serve  and  the  Lord 
have  rule." 

96  1184 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  97 

2.  Generally  reckoned  as  the  last  of  the  Latin  Fathers, 
Gregory  is  a  century  and  a  half  later  than  Leo.  With  him  the 
kingdom  almost  uniformly  means  heaven,  the  usual  designation 
being  "heavenly  kingdom."  In  Epistle  5.  20,  on  Matt.  16:  19  : 
"He  received  the  keys  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  and  power  to 
bind  and  loose  is  given  him  ;  the  care  and  principality  of  the 
whole  church  is  committed  to  him,  and  yet  he  is  not  called  the 
universal  apostle."  In  the  Epistle  to  Leander,  1.43  :  "Keep  watch 
over  King  Reccared  (a  Visigoth  in  Spain),  that  he  may  show  by 
his  works  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the  eternal  kingdom,  to  the  end 
that  after  a  course  of  many  years  he  may  pass  from  kingdom  to 
kingdom."  A  similar  thought  often  recurs  in  the  epistles.  In 
the  Pastoral  Rule,  Part  3.  15:  "In  the  judgment  those  who  have 
not  wrought  good  works  will  sue  in  vain  for  entrance  into  the 
kingdom." 

In  the  Catena,  however,  occur  a  number  of  references  which 
show  that  he  regarded  the  kingdom  as  the  present  church, 
usually  in  alternative  interpretation,  thus  :  "  Or,  by  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  to  be  understood  the  present  church."  In 
another  place :  "  Or  otherwise,  the  holy  church  is  likened  to  a 
net,  by  which  each  man  is  drawn  into  the  heavenly  kingdom  out 
of  the  waves  of  this  present  world ;  the  reprobate  having  lost 
the  light  of  the  inward  kingdom  are  cast  forth  into  the  outer 
darkness.  The  shore  signifies  the  end  of  the  world  ;  the  shore 
shall  discover  what  the  net  of  the  church  has  brought  to  land." 
Here  his  thought  seems  to  be  influenced  by  Augustine.  Per- 
haps his  "inward  kingdom"  points  to  God's  reign  within;  but 
the  meaning  is  somewhat  uncertain,  as  also  in  Epistle  47,  to 
Dontinicus:  "  We  look  to  the  returning  of  the  Master  of  the 
house,  after  receiving  his  kingdom,  to  take  account  of  us." 


185 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

ADDITIONAL  REFERENCES   FROM  THE   CATENA  AUREA. 
A.      PATRISTIC. 

1.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  (d.  444).  "The  kingdom  of  God 
is  within  you;  that  is,  it  rests  with  you  and  your  own  hearts  to 
receive  it." 

2.  Victor  OF  Antioch  (early  in  the  fifth  century).  One 
evangelist  simply  says  "to  preach,"  the  other  added  "  the  king- 
dom of  God,"  which  is  Christ  himself. 

3.  Pseudo-Chrysostom.  The  floor  is  the  church,  the  barn  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  field  is  the  world.  "Thine  is  the 
kingdom  "has  reference  to  "Thy  kingdom  come;"  that  none 
should  therefore  say,  "God  has  no  kingdom  on  earth." 

The  kingdom  of  God  is  that  in  which  God  reigns;  it  is  clear 
that  the  kingdom   of  God   is  confined  neither  by  place  nor  by 

time. 

4.  Pseudo-Jerome.  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  the  church, 
which  is  ruled  by  God,  and  herself  rules  over  men,  and  treads 
down  the  powers  which  are  contrary  to  her,"  etc. 

"For  he  must  repent,  who  would  keep  close  to  eternal  good, 
that  is,  to  the  kingdom  of  God." 

5.  Pseudo-Augustine.  "  For  then  cometh  the  kingdom  of 
God,  when  we  have  obtained  his  grace.  For  he  himself  says, 
'The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.'  " 

B.    post-patristic,  as  usually  reckoned. 
I.   Bede  (d.  735).     "Or  else  the  present  church  is  called  the 

kingdom  of  God;  and  some  of  the   disciples   were   to  see   the 

church  built  up,"  etc.  (on  Mark  9:  l). 

"The  kingdom  of  God,  that  is,  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel." 
"Or  the  kingdom  of  God  means  that  he  himself  is  placed  in 

the  midst  of  them,  Luke  17:  21,  that  is,  reigning  in  their  hearts 

by  faith."      (In  his  CJmrch  History  Bede  constantly  speaks  of  the 

kingdom  in  the  sense  of  heaven.) 

98  [186 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  99 

2.  Rabanus  Maurus  (d.  856).  On  Matt.  21:43:  "Yet  the 
kingdom  of  God  may  be  understood  by  the  gentiles,  or  of  the 
present  church,  in  which  the  gentiles  go  before  the  Jews,  because 
they  are  more  ready  to  believe." 

3.  Remigius  of  Auxerre  (fl.  880).  On  Matt.  3:2:  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  has  a  fourfold  meaning:  (i)  It  is  said  of 
Christ,  as,  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you;"  (2)  of  Holy 
Scripture,  as,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  shall  be  taken  from  you, 
and  given  to  a  nation,"  etc.;  (3)  of  the  holy  church,  as,  "The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened  unto  ten  virgins;  "  (4)  of  the 
abode  above,  as,  "  Many  shall  come  ....  and  sit  down  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  And  all  these  significations  maybe  here 
understood. 

He  calls  the  Son  of  God  himself  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  for 
he  saith:  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  that  sowed 
good  seed." 

4.  Theophylact  (d.  cir.  1107).  "As  if  he  said,  Mark  1:15, 
*  From  this  time  the  kingdom  of  God  will  work,'  that  is,  a  con- 
versation according  to  the  gospel,  which  is  with  reason  likened 
to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  For  when  you  see  a  man  living 
according  to  the  gospel,  do  you  not  say  that  he  has  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  which  is  not  meat  and  drink,  but  righteousness,  etc. 
(Rom.  14:  17)?" 

"When  they  are  healed  in  their  soul,  the  kingdom  of  God 
comes  nigh  unto  them." 

Besides  these  there  are  many  quotations  in  the  Cateiia  which 
give  the  celestial  sense  to  the  kingdom.  Together  they  make  it 
clear  that  in  the  transition  period  between  the  patristic  and 
scholastic  ages,  while  the  general  social  force  of  the  term  is  rare, 
the  identification  of  the  kingdom  with  the  church  is  almost  as 
much  in  evidence  as  the  conception  of  it  as  something  inner 
and  spiritual. 


187 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 

In  the  preceding  chapters  the  Fathers  have  told  the  story  of 
their  views  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  the  present  chapter  we 
may  group  around  the  leading  conceptions  the  names  of  those 
who  held  them,  and  finally  attempt  to  answer  the  questions  with 
which  we  set  out  in  the  Introduction. 

These  conceptions  may  be  considered  in  the  following  order: 

I.  The  conception  of  the  kingdom  as  the  Christian  society 
on  earth. 

II.  The  eschatological  conception:  the  kingdom  as  future,  to 
be  set  up  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ:  {a)  the  millennium; 
(^)  indefinite — without  the  millennial  idea. 

III.  The  kingdom  as  celestial. 

IV.  The  kingdom  as  the  church. 

V.  The  kingdom  as  God's  reign  in  the  soul. 

VI.  The  kingdom  as  the  chief  good,  or  some  element  of  it. 

I.      THE  KINGDOM  AS  THE  CHRISTIAN  SOCIETY  ON  EARTH. 

Iren^eus:  Unbelievers  are  outside  the  kingdom  of  God.  The 
heavenly  kingdom  is  honorable  to  those  who  have  known  the 
earthly  one. 

Clement  of  Alexandrl\:  The  "violent"  take  the  kingdom 
by  prayer  and  a  good  life.  The  least  in  the  kingdom,  i.e., 
Christ's  disciple,  is  greater  than  John. 

Origen:  One  is  made  a  disciple  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
when  he  becomes  a  Christian.  Christ  himself  instructs  his  dis- 
ciples, and  forms  them  into  a  kingdom  worthy  to  deliver  up  to 
God. 

[The  Apostolic  Constitutions:  Having  given  the  kingdom 
to  you,  he  expects  the  fruits  of  your  gratitude  and  piety.  ] 

The  Clementine  Recognitions:  From  the  oneness  of  mind 
of  the  beloved  the  peaceful  kingdom  of  God  is  constructed.^ 

'  From  the  context  in  the  Recognitions  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  social  sense  is 
in  mind.     See  p.  32  above. 

100  1188 


KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IN  THE  FATHERS  101 

Tertullian:  It  is  written,  "A  kingdom  also  and  priests  to 
his  God  and  Father  hath  he  made  us."  He  awards  the  kingdom 
to  his  disciples  as  he  says  it  had  been  appointed  to  himself 
by  the  Father.  There  is  an  earthly  and  a  heavenly  dispensa- 
tion. 

ViCTORiNUS  :  He  made  us  a  kingdom,  i.  e.,  a  church  of  all 
believers.  The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  now  eternal  in  the  saints, 
although  the  glory  of  the  saints  shall  be  manifested  after  the 
resurrection. 

Ephraem  Syrus:  Mary  says  to  the  magi:  "When  my 
Son's  kingdom  shall  arise,  may  he  plant  his  standard  in  your 
country." 

Gregory  Nazianzen  :  Baptism  is  the  key  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  He  is  not  within  the  kingdom  who  merely  desires  to 
attain  to  it  (neglecting  baptism,  etc.). 

Gregory  of  Nyssa:  To  disciples  of  the  Word  come  the  glad 
tidings  that  man  is  no  longer  outlawed,  nor  cast  out  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  but  is  once  more  a  son,  etc. 

Chrysostom  :  When  the  heathen  behold  in  us  a  good  life, 
they  will  look  upon  the  very  face  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  they  too  will  be  reformed.  Thus  will  the  kingdom  be  per- 
fected ;  earth  being  transformed  into  heaven,  the  kingdom  may 
be  already  in  possession  here. 

John  of  Damascus  :  The  state  of  those  who  live  according 
to  the  divine  laws  is  to  be  declared  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Hilary  :  We  are  the  kingdom  which  Christ  is  to  deliver 
up  to  the  Father.  The  young  man  was  "not  far  from  the  king- 
dom," not  yet  within  it,  because  he  had  not  confessed  Christ  as 
Lord. 

Ambrose:  Christ  came  to  earth  to  prepare  a  kingdom  from 
among  us.  We  are  the  kingdom,  first  of  Christ,  then  of  the 
Father.  But  they  reign  together.  Where  Christ  is,  there  is  his 
kingdom. 

Augustine  :  That  kingdom  which  we  desire  may  come,  the 
saints  proclaim  to  be  coming.  We  ought  to  be  in  his  kingdom 
always,  to  do  his  will  always.  While  the  devil  is  bound,  the 
saints    reign    with   Christ    during   the    thousand   years  between 

189 


102  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

the  first  and  second  coming.  What  is  his  kingdom,  save  those 
who  believe  in  him  ?  The  kingdom  of  God,  though  it  never 
departs  from  the  earth,  is  absent  to  those  who  are  ignorant  of  it. 
The  church  even  now  is  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  in  process  of  being  gathered  together. 

Cassian  :  That  kingdom  whereby  Christ  reigns  day  by  day 
in  the  saints,  when  the  devil  is  cast  out  and  God  reigns  in  our 
hearts.  If  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  us,  and  the  actual 
kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy,  then  the 
man  who  abides  in  these  is  most  certainly  in  the  kingdom  of 
God,  etc. 

[Leo  the  Great  :  Thou  wert  rescued  from  the  power  of  dark- 
ness, and  brought  out  into  God's  light  and  kingdom.] 

II.     THE  KINGDOM  TO  BE  SET  UP  OR   INAUGURATED  AT  THE   SECOND  COMING 
OF  CHRIST. 

I.  The Milletmium. —  Until  the  middle  of  the  third  century  mil- 
lennial views  prevailed  apparently  unchallenged,  while  frequently, 
no  doubt,  existing  side  by  side  with  the  less  definite  views  (see 
2  below).  The  Apocalypse  (see  above,  p.  12)  gave  a  basis  for 
this  doctrine,  which  was  first  treated  in  detail  by  Papias,  only  a 
few  fragments  of  his  writings  having  survived.  He  taught  the 
Jewish  tradition  of  a  millennium,  saying  that  after  the  resurrec- 
tion Christ  would  set  up  a  material  kingdom  on  earth,  and  reign 
in  the  flesh  with  the  saints.  The  pleasures  of  sense  were  to  be 
enjoyed,  as  in  the  Moslem  Paradise,  with  marvelous  vines,  each 
twig  bearing  ten  thousand  clusters,  etc.  This  period  was  to  be 
of  long  duration  ;  Lightfoot,  p.  529,  reads  ten  thousand  years. 
The  heretic  Cerinthus,  who  left  no  writings,  taught  similar  views 
earlier,  perhaps,  than  Papias. 

We  find  the  millennial  expectation  in  Justin  Martyr,  Ire- 
N^us,  HippoLYTUs,  the  Apocryphal  Writings,  Tertulliax,  in 
whom  the  doctrine  is  most  fully  given,'  and  in  Lactantius.  The 
first  opponent  of  the  traditional  view  of  the  Apocalypse  was 
DiONYSius  of  Alexandria.  He  vigorously  combated  the  mil- 
lennial views  as  taught  by  Cerinthus,  as  did  also  C^us  and  Vic- 

'Tertiillian  makes  the  millennium  a  prelude  to  heaven.     See    p.   38  f.  above. 
190 


KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IN  THE  FATHERS  103 

TORINUS.  These  views  were  gradually  disavowed  by  the  Fathers, 
and  finally  Augustine  threw  the  case  out  of  court  by  making 
the  millennium  the  period  between  Christ's  first  and  second 
coming. 

2.  Indefinite — without  the  millennial  idea. — This  general  escha- 
tological  view,  which  we  have  seen  to  be  the  prevailing  view  of 
the  apostles,  was  common  among  the  Fathers.  While  the  estab- 
lishment or  at  least  the  consummation  of  the  kingdom  is  looked 
for  at  the  end  of  the  present  dispensation,  it  is  often  left  an  open 
question  whether  the  kingdom  will  then  continue  on  earth  or  be 
removed  to  another  stage.  This  view  is  thus  evidently  transi- 
tional to  that  which  makes  the  kingdom  definitely  celestial,  or 
even  now  existent  in  heaven,  whither  the  believer  enters  at  death. 
A  remarkable  blending  of  the  two  is  found  in  the  apocryphal 
Vision  of  John:  "The  whole  world  and  Paradise  shall  be  made 
one,  and  the  righteous  shall  be  on  the  face  of  all  the  earth  with 
my  angels,  as  in  Ps.  37  :  29." 

Here  we  find  certain  utterances  of  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
Methodius,  the  Apostolic  Constitutions,  the  Clementines, 
Cyprian,  Victorinus,  Commodianus,  Aphrahat  and  Augustine, 

Others  of  the  Fathers  without  doubt  held  similar  opinions  ; 
and,  as  usual,  these  views  are  frequently  expressed  with  others 
more  definite  or  even  at  variance  with  them. 

III.    THE    KINGDOM    AS    CELESTIAL. 

Where  the  kingdom  of  God  is  regarded  simply  as  heaven, 
the  present  celestial  world,  it  marks  a  departure  from  the  New 
Testament  conception,  in  both  the  social  and  eschatological 
forms,  in  that  the  kingdom  is  taken  away  from  the  earth.  But 
the  later  epistles  probably  supply  a  point  of  departure  even  for 
this  view,  as  2  Pet.  i  :  1 1  ;  2  Tim.  4:18.  Moreover,  it  is  com- 
monl}^  the  case  that  several  distinct  conceptions  of  the  kingdom 
are  held  together,  so  that  the  view  of  it  as  celestial  may  be 
only  additional  or  supplementary  to  the  writer's  prevailing 
view. 

The  thought  of  the  kingdom  as  the  state  of  bliss  in  heaven 
is  much  more  general  than  any  other  single  opinion  about  it  in 

191 


104  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

the  Fathers.  It  occurs  with  greater  or  less  emphasis  in  all  the 
important  writers,  and  in  some  of  them  is  conspicuous,  as  in  sev- 
eral of  the  apostolic  Fathers,  the  Liturgies  as  a  whole,  Cyril, 
EusEBius,  and  Gregory  the  Great.  The  scriptural  reference 
most  often  quoted  is  Matt.  25  :  34,'  being  commonly  understood 
as  a  summons  to  the  righteous  to  enter  and  enjoy  the  felicity  of 
heaven.  As  a  rule,  those  who  regard  most  highly  the  spiritual 
and  ethical  elements  of  the  kingdom  think  the  less  about  it  as  a 
celestial  reward.  This  is  noticeable  in  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
Cyprian,  Athanasius,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Ambrose,  Chrysos- 
TOM,  Augustine,  and  others. 

IV.      THE     KINGDOM     AS     THE     CHURCH. 

The  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  while  not  expressly  identifying  the 
kingdom  of  God  with  the  church,  seems  in  some  instances  to 
use  the  terms  interchangeably.  His  influence  can  be  traced  in 
the  patristic  age  through  the  Clementi?ie  Recognitio?is,  Hilary, 
and  perhaps  others,  to  Augustine  himself,  by  whom  the  identi- 
fication of  church  and  kingdom  is  elaborately  wrought  out.  It 
is  well  known  what  a  vast  influence  this  conception  has  exerted, 
especially  in  the  church  of  Rome.  It  has,  no  doubt,  a  point  of 
attachment  in  the  great  commission  to  Peter  {cf.  Introduction, 
11).  The  relation  of  the  church  to  the  kingdom  is  very  differ- 
ently expressed  in  different  Fathers,  and  in  the  same  writer  the 
two  are  sometimes  distinguished  from  each  other  in  one  pas- 
sage and  made  substantially  identical  in  another.  There  is  no 
uniform  usage. 

A  few  citations  will  recall  the  various  points  of  view. 
Origen:  We  are  even  in  the  present  life  placed  in  the  church, 
in  which  is  the  form  of  that  kingdom  which  is  to  come. 
Cyprian  :  He  cannot  be  a  martyr  who  is  not  in  the  church  ;  he 
cannot  attain  unto  the  kingdom  who  forsakes  that  which  shall 
reign  there.  Chrysostom  :  In  Egypt  Christ's  kingdom  shines 
forth  in  its  brightness.  Ambrose  :  The  kingdom  of  the  church 
shall  remain  forever,  because  its  faith  is  undivided  in  one  body. 
Augustine  :  Although  at  times  the  church,  even  that  which  now 

'C/.  tables  on  p.  107. 

192 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  105 

is,  is  called   the  kingdom   of   heaven,    it   is   because  it  is  being 
gathered  together  for  a  future  and  eternal  life. 

V.      THE     KINGDOM     AS     GOD'S     REIGN     IN     THE     SOUL. 

This  important  conception  centers  in  Luke  17:21,  "The 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  It  is  thus  uniformly  rendered 
in  the  Fathers,  and  often  associated  with  Deut.  30:  II-13.  In 
modern  times  it  has  occasionally  been  translated,  "The  king- 
dom of  God  is  among  you,"  partly  on  the  ground  that  the  words 
were  addressed  to  the  Pharisees;  partly  on  the  ground  that  the 
great  thought  involved  is  not  definitely  found  elsewhere  in  Christ's 
teaching  about  the  kingdom.  But  the  reference  of  the  words  is 
general,  not  applied  especially  to  the  Pharisees  :  the  Fathers  seem 
rightly  to  understand  them  as  addressed  "to  the  apostles,"  "to 
us."  Among  the  Fathers  who  quote  and  treat  this  passage  are 
Origen,  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Athanasius,  Basil,  Gregory  of 
Nyssa,  Hilary,  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Augustine,  and  Cassian. 

It  is  of  great  significance  that  such  marked  stress  is  laid  upon 
this  inner,  spiritual  phase  of  the  kingdom.  As  the  kingdom 
depends  directly  upon  the  divine  life  in  renewed  souls,  it  is 
hardly  conceivable  that  a  just,  well-balanced  idea  of  the  king- 
dom could  have  existed  without  such  a  word  of  Christ.  That  it 
has  prevented  one-sided  views  of  the  kingdom  as  the  church,  or 
as  heaven,  from  becoming  too  prevalent,  seems  evident. 

VI.      THE    KINGDOM    AS    THE    CHIEF    GOOD,  OR    SOME    ELEMENT    OF    IT. 

Not  only  has  the  prayer  "Thy  kingdom  come"  been  inter- 
preted as  a  petition  for  all  blessings  and  rewards,  present  and 
future,  but  there  is  hardly  a  good  thing  within  the  gift  of  God 
which  has  failed  of  being  identified,  or  at  least  named,  with  the 
kingdom.  Thus  Christ  himself  is  identified  with  the  kingdom 
by  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Hilary,  Jerome,  Augustine,  Victor 
of  Antioch,  and  essentially  by  several  others.  Methodius 
calls  the  kingdom  eternal  life;  Chrysostom,  love;  Ambrose, 
redemption ;  Gregory  Nazianzen,  the  vision  of  God  uniting 
himself  with  the  soul  ;  the  Clementines,  "  God  has  concealed 
the  kingdom,  as  a  hid  treasure";  Pseudo-Jerome,  eternal  good. 
The  kingdom  is  thought  of  as  in  a  sense  the  state  of  salvation, 

193 


106  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

by  Iren^us,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  the  Clemeiitme  Recogni- 
iio7is,  and  Augustine.  Cf.  also  Cyril.  These  definitions,  it  may 
be  noted,  are  quite  in  the  spirit  of  Rom.  14:17  and  i  Cor.  4  :  20, 
and  are  as  a  rule,  with  man}'  others  cited  in  the  preceding  pages, 
referable  to  a  Scriptural  source. 

We  may  now  recur  to  the  questions  at  the  beginning :  To 
the  first,  What  was  understood  by  the  "kingdom  of  God  "  in  the 
early  Christian  centuries  ?  the  Fathers  of  the  church  have  been 
summoned  to  give  answer  in  their  own  words.  The  second.  To 
what  extent  was  the  New  Testament  usage  followed,  and  wherein 
was  it  departed  from  ?  may  be  partly  answered  by  referring  to 
the  tables  of  Scriptural  quotations  at  the  end  ;  partly  by  bearing 
in  mind  the  general  tenor  of  interpretation  on  the  subject  by 
the  Fathers.  Is  there  not,  on  the  whole,  considering  the 
extreme  complexity  of  the  conception,  the  kingdom  of  God,  a 
surprising  conformity  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture  ?  There  may 
be  vagaries  of  a  TertuUian,  a  Lactantius,  an  Origen,  in  their 
speculations  ;  but  it  may  be  questioned  whether  any  great  Chris- 
tian doctrine  has  suffered  less  in  its  transmission  through  the 
age  of  the  Fathers.  And  the  impression  grows  rather  than  less- 
ens, that  where  the  New  Testament  usage  was  departed  from 
by  the  Fathers  on  this  theme,  it  was  more  a  development  of 
doctrine,  in  the  light  of  Providence  and  the  Spirit's  guidance, 
than  a  perversion  of  the  truth. 

This  leads  to  the  final  question  :  Did  the  Fathers  on  the 
whole  preserve  the  great  idea  and  hand  it  down,  or  did  they  lose 
it?  The  former  of  these  alternatives  seems  the  correct  one. 
When  we  remember  that  whether  Christ  himself  changed  his 
view  of  the  kingdom  during  his  ministry,  in  any  case  his  teach- 
ing about  it  not  only  varied  widely,  but  emphasized  "the  mys- 
teries of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  "  that  the  apostles'  view  already 
indicates  that  distinct  progress  in  the  conception  had  been  made; 
that  in  the  vicissitudes  of  the  centuries  following,  the  Fathers 
adhere,  to  an  extent  somewhat  remarkable,  to  the  language  and 
spirit  of  the  New  Testament ;  we  can  hardly  charge  them  with 
having  lost  the  great  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

19i 


SCRIPTURAL   QUOTATIONS. 


The  1,410  Scriptural  references  to  the  kingdom  which  are  made  by  the 
Fathers  in  their  writings  under  consideration  are  distributed  in  26  books, 
including  three  of  the  Apocrypha,  86  chapters,  and  143  verses.  Of  the 
verses  118  are  in  the  New  Testament,  21  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  4  in 
the  Apocrypha.  Of  the  whole  number  of  quotations,  745.  or  nearly  53  per 
cent,  are  from  Matthew.  Forty-two  verses  are  quoted  ten  times  or  more 
each,  as  follows  : 

Times 

-  23 
19 

-  19 
18 

-  17 
16 

-  16 
15 

-  15 
15 

-  15 
14 


Times 

Matt.  25:34 

95 

Dan.  7:14 

John  3:5 

-     68 

Matt,  13:52 

Matt.  6:10 

54 

I  Cor.  6:9 

Matt.  6:33      - 

-     49 

Matt.  3 : 2 

I  Cor.  15:50        - 

46 

Matt.  5:  10 

I  Cor.  6:  10      - 

-     41 

Matt.  19:  24 

I  Cor.  15:24 

39 

Rom.  14:  17 

Matt.  5:3 

-         -         -     38 

Matt.  4:  17 

Matt.  19:  12 

-         -          38 

Matt.  8:12 

Gal.  5:21        - 

-     32 

Matt.  13:11 

Col.  1 :  13 

32 

Eph.  5 : 5 

Matt.  5:20   - 

-     31 

Luke  1 :  33 

John  18:36 

27 

Luke  9 :  62 

Matt.  8:  II 

-     26 

Ps.  22:28 

Matt.  16:19 

25 

Matt.  21 :3i 

Matt.  5:19 

-     24 

Acts  I  :  6 

Matt.  11:12 

24 

Matt.  11:  II 

Matt.  7:21 

-     23 

Matt.  12:25 

Matt.  13:43 

23 

Matt.  16:28 

Luke  17:21 

-     23 

Matt.  18:3 

Ps.45:6     -         -        - 

23 

John  3 : 3 

The  following  twenty-six  verses  are  quoted  once  each  : 


Numb.  24 : 7 
Ps.  145:11 
Dan.  4 : 3 
Dan.  4:25 
Dan.  6  :  26 

1  Esdr.  4:40 
Wisd.  5:17 

2  Mace.  7  : 9 
Matt.  4:23 
195] 


Mark  i  :  15 
Mark  4 :  30 
Mark  10:24 
Mark  il :  10 
Luke  8 : 1 
Luke  9:11 
Luke  10:9 
Luke  10: II 
Luke  18:17 
107 


Luke  19 

:ii 

Luke  22 

:i6 

Acts  8 : 

2 

Acts  20 

25 

Acts  28 

23 

2  Pet.  I 

II 

Rev.  5  : 

10 

Rev.  1 1 

15 

108 


HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 


Ante-Nicene    Fathers    whose   writings,  largely  fragmentary,  contain    no 
reference  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 


Alexander  of  Cappadocia 

Alexander  of  Lycopolis 

Anatolius 

Apollonius 

Aristo  of  Pella 

Arnobius 

Asterius  Urbanus 

Bardesan 

Callistus 

Claudius  Apollinaris 

Dionysius  of  Corinth 

Malchion 

Maximus  of  Jerusalem 


Pamphilus 

Pantsenus 

Phileas 

Pierius 

Polycrates  of  Ephesus 

Quadratus  of  Athens 

Rhodon 

Serapion  of  Antioch 

Theognostus 

Theonas 

Theophilus  of  Caesarea 

Urban  I. 

Zephyrinus 


196 


INDEX    OF    REFERENCES*    TO   THE    KINGDOM    IN   THE   WORKS   OF 

THE  FATHERS  UNDER   CONSIDERATION. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS. 

(Total,  57.) 

Clement  of  Rome:  Ep.  to  the  Corinthians,  ch.  42,  50,  (54)— 3- 

The  "Second  Epistle  of  Clement,"  ch.  5,  6,  9,  11,  12,=  (17)— 7- 

Epistle  of  Barnabas,  ch.  4,  7,  8,"  21—5. 

The  Didache,  ch.  8,  9,  10—3. 

The  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs:  Judah,  22,  24;  Joseph,  19;  Benja- 
min, 9 — 4. 

The  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  Similitude,  9,  ch.  12,*  13,  15,5  20,'  29,  31' — 15. 

Ignatius:  Ep.  to  the  Ephesians,  16;  to  the  Philippians,  3;  Martyrdom,  2;  Spurious 
Ep.  to  the  Tarsians,  7;  to  the  Antiochians,  14:  to  Hero,  Introd. — 6. 

Polycarp:  Ep.  to  the  Philippians,  2,  5 — 2. 

Papias,  Fragments:  In  Euseb.,  Ch.  Hist.,  3,  39,  12;  in  Irenseus,  Heresies,  B.  5,  ch. 
33;  in  Photius  (Lightfoot,  Apos.  V.,  p.  534).  Cf.  Maximus  the  Confessor  in  Lightf., 
p.  534,  and  Jerome,  Illus.  Men,  18 — 3. 

Aristides:  Apology,  i6 — i. 

Epistle  to  Diognetus,  ch.  9,  10—2. 

Martyrdom  of  Polycarp  (Ep.  of  the  Smyrn^eans),  ch.  20,  22' — 3. 

Reliques  of  the  Elders  in  Iren/eus:  In  B.  4,  ch.  27,  i — 28,  i. 

THE  ANTE-NICENE  FATHERS  AFTER  THE  APOSTOLIC. 

GREEK. 

Justin  Martyr — Total,  36. 

First  Apology,  ch.  11,  15,3  16,  32,  61.    Dialogue  with  Trypho,  ch.  31,*  32,  34,  38, 

39.  45.  51.' 56,  63,  68,  76,3  (79),   105,   116,   117,118,   120,3   139,   140.=    Fragment 

from  Methodius  on  the  Resurrection,  in  Photius. 
Iren^us — Total,  106. 

Against  Heresies,  B.  i,  ch.  6,  sec.  3;  ch.  8,  3;=  ch.  30,  13;  B.  2,  ch.  28,  3;  ch.  32, 

l;  B.  3,  ch.  6,  i;  ch.  9,  2;  ch.  11,  8;  ch.  12,  13;  ch.  16,  4;  ch.  21,  4;  ch.  21,  8;  B.  4, 

ch.  8,  I;*  ch.  9,  i;  ch.  13,  I;  ch.  16,  i;  ch.  18,  6;  ch.  20,  5,  10,^  1 1,3  12;  ch.  21,  i; 

ch.    22,   2;  ch.   24,  2;  ch.    25,   3;  ch.   27,  l,  2,  4;3  ch.  28,  2;  ch.  29,  i;  ch.  33,  li; 

ch.  34,  3;  ch.  38,  6;*  ch.  37,  7;"    ch.  40,  2;*  B.  5,  ch.  9,  I,"  3,3  4;5  ch.  10,  I,  2;=  ch. 

II,  I,s  2;  ch.  12,  3;  ch.  13,  2,  5;  ch.  14,  I,  4;  ch.  25,  3;  ch.  26,  I*,  2;  ch.  27,  I;  ch. 

28,  I;   ch.  30,  4;*  ch.  32,  I;  ch.  33,  I,  2,  3;=^  ch.  34,  2,»  3;  ch.  35,  I,'  2;3  ch.  36,  2.  3.3 

Fragments :  Frag.  9,  34,  36,*  (42,  repetition  of  9),  50,  54,  55.* 
Clement  of  Alexandria — Total,  78. 

Exhortation  to  the  Heathen,  ch.  i,  9,3  io,=  ii.3    The  Instructor,  B.  i,  ch.  5;'»  B.  2, 

ch.  1,3  2,  3,  II,  13;    B.  3,  ch.  4,  7,'  II,*  12.     Miscellanies,  B.  i,  ch.  il;  B.  2,  ch. 

19,=  20;  B.  3,  ch.  4,'  6,3  7,  l8;»  B.  4,  ch.  2,  6,  8,  17,  18;  B.  5,  ch.  I,  3,  I2;»  B. 

6,  ch.  II,  15;  B.  7,  ch.  12,  14,  16,  17.     Who  is  the  Rich  Man  that  is  Saved?  sec. 

2,  3,  4,3  5,  16,  17,  18,  19,  21,='  24,  26,  29,  30,  31,=  32,'  42,     Fragments,  in  Vol.  24, 

pp.  156,  169. 

*When  not  otherwise  described,   references  to  pages  are  to  the  Clark  and  Christian  Literature 
Company  translations. 

197]  109 


110  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

HiPPOLYTUS — Total,  51. 

Refutation  of  All  Heresies,  B.  5,ch.  2,  3,'  4;  B.  8,  ch.  3;  B.  9,  ch.  4;  B.  10,  ch. 
30.  On  Christ  and  Anti-Christ,  5,  22,  26,  44,  59,  65.  Against  the  Jews,  7. 
Against  the  Greeks,  I,  3.  Against  Noetus,  6.  Fragments:  On  Genesis,  p.  415, 
422,»  Vol.  6  (in  Jerome,  Ep.  36).  (On  Song  of  Sol.,  440.)  On  Daniel,  446,  447, 
460,  461,*  467,3  468,  473,  474,  483,  sec.  4.3  From  a  Homily  quoted  in  Theodoret, 
Vol.  9,  Pt.  2,  p.  90.     Disputed  Writings,  p.  104,  116,  122,  125,="  12b,*  127.= 

Origen— Total,  I95- 

On  First  Principles,  B.  i,  ch.  3,  6;»  ch,  6,  2;'  ch.  7,  5;3  B.  2,  ch.  3,  i,  3,  7;3  ch.  10, 
3;='  ch.  II,  2,  6;  B.  3  (ch.  i,  16,  Lat.);  ch.  6,  g;  B.  4  (ch.  i,  2,  Lat.),  (3),  23  (25, 
Lat.).  From  the  Commentary  on  John,  B.  i,  ch.  10,  23,  37,'  40,'  4I;  B.  10,  ch. 
I  *  8,  9,  10,^  II,  15,  16,"  28.  From  the  Commentary  on  Matthew,  B.  10,  ch.  i,* 
2,4  3,3  4,4  5."  6,*  7,  8,  11,3  12,*  13,  14,"  IS,'*  16,  23;  B.  II,  ch.  4,3  i6;2  B.  12,  ch. 
II,*  14,"  31,3  32,'  (33).  34,*  35;*  B.  13,  ch.  9,  M,  I5,^  16,  17,  18,^  19,*  25,  31;  B. 
14,  ch.  7,7  8,  (12),  I3,<  14.  Against  Celsus,  B.  i,  ch.  6,  39,  S6,3  (60),  66;3  B.  2,  ch. 
5,  38,  63,  78;'  B.  3,  ch.  40,  47,  59;  B.  4,  ch.  3,3  10,  42;'  B.  5,  ch.  19,  58;  B.  6,  ch. 
i6,»  17,  (31),  46;  B.  7,  ch.  23;  B.  8,  ch.  5,  ii,«  13,  38,  41,  (68). 

Methodius — Total,  20. 

Banquet  of  the  Ten  Virgins,  Dis.  i,  ch.  i;  Dis.  2,  ch.  7;  Dis.  6,  ch.  3;  Dis.  7,  ch. 
3,  5,  8;  Dis.  8,  ch.  4;  Dis.  9,  ch.  2.  On  the  Resurrection,  (ch.  3»),  13.3  In  Sum- 
mary by  Photius,  5  ^^  (63  is  repetition).  Oration  on  Simeon  and  Anna,  ch.  13.^ 
Oration  on  the  Palms,  ch.  5.3 

The  Apocryphal  Writings— Total,  30. 

Gospel  of  the  Nativity  of  Mary,  ch.  9.  History  of  Joseph  the  Carpenter,  ch.  8, 
26.  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  Pt.  i.  The  Acts  of  Pilate,  first  Gk.  form,  ch.  3,  10,  11 
(the  same  three  in  Lat.  form);  second  Gk.  form,  ch.  3,'  (ch.  g,'  11,  Caesar's  King- 
dom); Lat.  form,  ch.  14,  Pt.  2.  The  Descent  of  Christ  into  Hades,  first  Lat. 
form,  ch.  10  (second  Lat.  form,  ch.  4).  Narrative  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  ch. 
3,'5- 

Note.— The  remainder  of  the  references  in  the  Apocryphal  Writings,  being  without  sectional 
divisions,  are  given  according  to  the  pages  in  Vol.  16  of  the  Clark  edition  of  the  Fathers. 

The  Avenging  of  the  Savior,  254;  The  Acts  of  Peter  and  Paul,  (260),  272,  275; 
Acts  of  Philip,  313;  Acts  and  Martyrdom  of  Andrew,  339;^  Acts  of  Andrew  and 
Matthias,  352;  Acts  of  Peter  and  Andrew,  371;  (Acts  and  Martyrdom  of  Matthew, 
374);  Acts  of  Thomas,  402,'  410;  Martyrdom  of  Bartholomew,  434;  Acts  of  Thad- 
deus,  442;  Acts  of  John,  (448),  449;  (Revelation  of  Moses,  465);  Revelation  of  Paul, 
479,  492;  Revelation  of  John,  496  (502). 
The  Apostolic  Constitutions— Total,  34. 

B.  I,  ch.  l;  B.  2,  ch.  6,  35,  55;  B.  3,  ch.  12,'  i8;=  B.  5,  ch.  I,  4,  14,  16;*  B.  6,  ch. 

12,  15,  30;  B.  7,  ch.  24,  25,  26,=  32,^  35,  38,  41,^  43;  B.  8,  ch.  7,  10,  12,  15.= 

The  Clementines — Total,  86. 

A.— The  Homilies  (in  Vol.  17):  Hom.  I,  ch.  6;  Horn.  2,  ch.  19,=  40;  Hom.  3,  ch. 
5,  8,  18,="  19,  26,  28,  (62);  Hom.  8,  ch.  21,  23;  Hom.  9,  ch.  3,  4,  (>f  Hom.   10,  ch. 

13,  25;  Hom.  ii,ch.  26;  Hom.  13,  ch.  8,  14,  20,  21;'  Hom.  15,  ch.  7;  Hom.  18, 
ch.  15,  16,  17;^  Hom.  19,  ch.  20;  Hom.  20,  ch.  2.3  The  so-called  Epistles:  To 
James,  ch.  11,  (13),  14.  I7;  On  Virginity  (in  Vol.  14),  ch.  1,2,3  3,=  4,  9. 

198 


KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IN  THE  FATHERS  111 

B. — The  Recognitions  (in  Vol.  3),  B.   i,  ch.  6,  11,  24,^  42,  45,  49,  51,^  52,=  54,' 
63,  6gf  B.  2,  ch.  20,3  21,-  22,  28,  30,  46;  B.  3,  ch.  20,  28,  29,  38,  53,  54,^  67;  B. 
5,  ch.  8,  9,^  10,  II,  12,  18;  B.  6,  ch.  9;  B.  8,  ch.  5;  (B.  9,  ch.  3);  B.  10,  ch.  2,  44,  45, 
The  Liturgies — Total,  20. 

Of  James,  36,  38,  43,  44,  49;  of  Mark,  4,  5,^  15,^  17,  18;  of  the  Holy  Apostles, 
13,  16,  18,^  19,  20.3 

MINOR    ANTE-NICENE    GREEK    FATHERS. 

(Total,  50.) 
Melito:  Frag,  on  Faith,  p.  127. 

Hegesippus  (in  Eusebius,  Ch.  Hist.,  3,  20,  6):  On  the  Relatives  of  Christ. 
Theophilus  of  Antioch  (in  Vol.  3):  To  Autolycus,  i,  ch.  3. 
Caius  (in  Eusebius,  Ch,  Hist.,  3,  28,  2):  Against  Proclus. 
DioNYSius  OF  Alexandria:  On  the  Promises,  i,  3,4;  Ep.  to  Fabius,  5,  10. 
Julius  Africanus:  On  Persian  Chronology,  p.  198. 
Gregory  Thaumaturgus:  Among   the  dubious  writings,  Twelve  Topics   on   the 

Faith,  Topic  12;^  First  Homily,  p.  118,  119;  Hom.  2,  p.  128;  Hom.  4,  p.  147,  148. 
Archelaus:  Disputation  with  Manes,  ch.  13,^  21,  23,=*  24,*  2$,-  33,  37,  40,  49. 
Peter  of  Alexandria  :  Canonical  Epistle,  Canon  5,  8,=  9. 
Athenagoras  :  Plea  for  the  Christians,  ch.  18. 

"Selections  from  the  Prophetic  Scriptures"  (Anon.).     (In  Vol.  24.)     Sec.  12,  p.  120. 
Syriac  Documents:  Teaching  of  Addasus,  p.  30.    Epistle,  132.    Hom.  by  Mar  Jacob, 

pp.  116,  120,  125.     Martyrdom  of  the  Holy  Confessors,  p.  145. 

LATIN. 

Tertullian — Total,  161. 

A. — Catholic  Writings  (before  202  A.  D.):  A  Prescription  Against  Heretics,  13, 
22.  On  Prayer,  5,*  6,=  9.  On  Baptism,  13,  20.  On  Spectacular  Shows,  30.  On 
Patience,  11,  13.  On  Idolatry,  9,  (12),  18.  On  Woman's  Dress,  g.'  To  his 
Wife,  6,  8. 

B. — Montanistic  Writings:  Against  Marcion,  B.  3,  ch.  4,  y,"  20,  2i,»  23,  24;^  B. 
4,  ch.  8,  14,5  18^  (7A  footnote,  p.  249  f.),  21,  23,'  24,3  25,  26,3  29,3  30,8  33,6  35,7  398 
(v.  footnote,  p.  365).  B.  5,  ch.  9,  io,'5  14.  Against  Praxeas,  4,^  13,  26.  On  the 
Scorpion's  Bite,  6,  9,  (10),  13.  Exhortation  to  Chastity,  7.  Answer  to  the 
Jews,  6,"  14.^  On  the  Soul,  39,  55.  On  Flight  in  Persecution,  12.  On  the  Flesh 
of  Christ,  4.  On  the  Resurrection  of  the  Flesh,  26,*  27,  32,  33,^  36,  41,  48,  49,? 
50,9  51.3  On  Fasting,  15.=^  On  Monogamy,  3,  7,  8.  On  Modesty,  i,  14,  i6,3  17,' 
21.^ 

Cyprian — Total,  142. 

(His  Life  and  Passion,  by  Pontius  the  Deacon,  p.  xxiv.  Vol.  8.) — Epistles:  Ep.  6, 
5;  Ep.  7,  7;  Ep.  25,  3,  4;  Ep.  26,  i;  Ep.  51,  27;  Ep.  54,  4;  Ep.  55,  lO;  Ep.  61, 
5;  Ep.  62,  9,»  14;  Ep.  69,  7;  Ep.  71,  i;  Ep.  72,  (il),  16,  21,  22;  Ep.  73,  9;  Ep. 
76,  2,  6,'  7';  Ep.  78,  2;  Ep.  80,  2,  4.  On  the  Dress  of  Virgins,  4,  5,  21,  23.  On 
the  Lapsed,  12.  On  the  Unity  of  the  Church,  4,  6,  14,3  15,  19,  27.  On  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  I,  7,  12,  13,'*  16,  19,  2i,»  24,  30,  36.  To  Demetrianus,  20,  25.  On  the 
Pestilence,  2,»  i8,»  22,»  26.'  On  Works  and  Alms,  4,  7,  8,  9,3  13,  21,  22,  23,  26. 
199 


112  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

On  the  Advantage  of  Patience,  8,  15.  On  Jealousy  and  Envy,  12,  15,  l8.» 
Exhortation  to  Martyrdom,  6,  7,  11,  I2,»  13.^  Testimony  Against  the  Jews. 
Topic  23,  B.  I,  ch.  12,  (15^),  23;3  B.  2,  ch.  6,  10,  (ii=),  15,  26,  29,=  30;  B.  3,  ch. 
I,'  ii,»  i6,=  25,  69;  B.  4,  ch.  19,"  20,  25,»  32,  44,  52,  60,  64,  65,  69,  96.='  On  the 
Glory  of  Martyrdom,  16,  18,  22,  24.  On  Chastity,  i,  6.  Exhortation  to  Repent- 
ance, p.  269.    Seventh  Council  of  Carthage,  256  A.  D.,  pp.  202,  203,  206.  Vol.   13. 

ViCTORiNUS — Total,  10. 

Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse:  (On  1:5.)  On  1:6.  On  i:i6.  On  5:8,9.  On 
7:2.  On  14:15.  On  15:2.  On  19:11.  On  20:8-10.  On  2i:l6  f.  (C/.  "King- 
dom of  Anti-Christ"  passim.) 

Lactantius — Total  28. 

The  Divine  Institutes,  B.  I,  ch.  5,  7,  ii;  B.  2,  ch.  ii;  B.  4,  ch.  4,  7,  I2,<  13,3  20;3 
B.  5,  ch.  3,  (6,  7,  8);  B.  7,  ch.  6,  19,  23,  26.  Epitome,  42,  47,="  67,  72.=^  On  the 
Way  in  which  Persecutors  Died,  16. 

MINOR    ANTE-NICENE    LATIN    FATHERS. 

(Total,  12.) 
MiNucius  Felix:     Octavius,  18. 
COMMODIANUS:    Instructions  in  favor  of  Christian  Discipline.     To  the  Gentiles,    33. 

To  the  Jews,  38,73- 
Novatian:     On  the  Trinity,  10.     On  Jewish  Meats,  5. 
Treatise  on  Rebaptism  (Anon.),  3,  g.' 
By  the  Pseudo-Isodorus:     Of  Pontianus,   p.  239.     Of  Anterus,  246.     Of  Fabian,  261. 

THE  NICENE  AND  POST-NICENE  FATHERS. 
GREEK. 

EusEBius — Total,  46. 

(Prolog.,  p.  72.)  Church  History,  B.  i,  ch.  2,  sec.  26;*  ch.  3,  14;  B.  2,  ch.  14,  6;  ch. 
22,  5;  B.  3,  ch.  20,  6;  ch.  24,  3;  ch.  28,  2,  4,  5;  ch.  37,  i;  ch.  39,  12;  B.  6,  ch.  7, 
2;  ch.  41,  14;  ch.  42,  5;  B.  7,  ch.  24,  5;  ch.  25,  3,^  ii;  B.  8;  ch.  4,  3;  ch.  13,  1,2. 
The  Martyrs  of  Palestine,  ch.  7,  i;  ch.  11,  23.  The  Life  of  Constantine,  ch.  3, 
sec.  15.  (Cf.  4,  48.)  (Oration  of  Constantine,  ch.  19.)  Oration  of  Eusebius  on  the 
Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  Constantine's  Reign,  ch.  i,  6;  ch.  2,  1,3  4;*  ch.  3,  2;»  ch. 
4,  I;*  ch.  5,  2,  5;*  ch.  6,  18;  ch.  12,  4;  ch.  17,  13,  18. 

Athanasius — Total,  68. 

(Prolog.  21,  33,  36,  44,  62,  69,  74.)  Against  the  Heathen,  Pt.  2,  ch.  30,  i,  2;  ch. 
37,  4.  On  the  Incarnation  of  the  Word,  ch.  56,  3;  ch.  57,  3.  (Statement  of 
Faith,  I.)  On  Luke  10:22,  sec.  6.  Defense  Against  the  Arians,  ch.  3,  47' 
Defense  of  the  Nicene  Definition,  ch.  4,  17.  On  the  Opinion  of  Dionysius,  10. 
Life  of  Antony,  17,='  20,3  45,  94.  Defense  of  his  Flight,  i.  History  of  the 
Arians,  79.  Four  Discourses  Against  the  Arians:  Dis.  1,12,  46,3  47,=  48,  49,=  61; 
Dis.  2,  13,=  18,  52,=  61,  70,  76.  (Pref.  to  Dis.  4.)*  On  the  Synods,  25,  26,"  49.^ 
Letter  to  the  Church  at  Antioch,  7.  To  the  Bishops  of  Africa,  11.  Letters, 
Easter  of  A.  D.  330,  2,  7.  (Of  332,  4.  3-)  Of  333,  5,  3,  6.  Of  334,  6,  i,  n,  12. 
Of  335,  7,  8,3  10.  Of  338,  10,  4.  5-  Of  339,  II,  I,  6.  Of34i,  13,  4-=  Of  342, 
14,5.  Of  368  (Ep.  40).=  Of  371  (Kp.  43)-  Second  to  Lucifer  (Ep.  51)-  To 
Serapion  (Ep,  54). 

200 


KINGDOM    OF    GOD    IN    THE    FATHERS  113 

Ephraem  Syrus— Total,  21. 

From  his  Testament,  p.  134.  Nisibene  Hymns,  36,  15  and  58,  9.  On  the 
Nativity,  i,  2,  4,^  7;  13,  3;  17,  i,  14.     Hymns   for  the  Feast  of  Epiphany,  sec. 

I,  8;  sec.  5,  8,  9;  sec.  7,  25;  sec.  10,  9,  lO;  sec.  15,  11,  42,  52.  Hymn  on  the 
Pearl  (of  the  Faith),  sec.  i,  i;  sec.  4,  4.  Homilies:  On  our  Lord,  1,3  51,  54. 
On  Admonition  and  Repentance,  7.     On  the  Sinful  Woman,  5,  8,  15. 

Aphrahat — Total,  43. 

Demonstrations:  Of  Faith,  20.  Of  Wars,  6,^  10,  14,3  (16),  2i,3  22,=  23,^  24.' 
Of  Monks,  I,'  6,  18.  On  the  Resurrection,  18,  21,'  22.="  On  Persecution,  21.==  Of 
Death  and  the  Latter  Times,  24.' 

Basil— Total,  26. 

Prolog.  (26,  34),  51,  56,  57,3  64.  On  the  Spirit,  ch.  15,  36  {v.  notes,  pp.  22,  28), 
ch.  29,  72.^  Letters:  To  the  Csesareans,  sec.  7,*  8,  1 23  (t/.  note,  p.  122).  To 
Macarius  and  John,  Ep.  18.  To  a  Lapsed  Monk,  Ep.  44.  To  the  Deaconesses, 
Ep.  105.  To  the  Alexandrians,  Ep.  139.  To  Bishops  of  the  Sea  Coast,  Ep.  203. 
To  Amphilochius,  Ep.  226,  3.  To  Bishops  of  Italy  and  Gaul,  Ep.  243,  3  {v. 
notes,  pp.  19s,  250). 

Cyril  of  Jerusalem — Total,  53. 

(Prolog.  16,  22,  32,  33,  47,  48,  60.)  Procatachesis,  16.  Catechetical  Lectures,  I, 
2;  2,  I9;=»  3,  4,=  8,=  10   [v.  note,  p.  20);  4,  15;*  6,  7;  7,  16;  8,  5*  {v.  note,  p.  58); 

II,  ibf  12,  i8,=  (23),  24;=  13,  30,  31;  14,  26;  15,  i"  {v.  note,  p.  104),  2,  8,  17,  23, 
26,^  27,5  28,  31,  32,=  33;^  16,  20;   17,  II,  15,  27;   18,  28;   21,  2;  23,  13.* 

Gregory  Nazianzen — Total,  17. 

In  Defense  of  his  Flight  to  Pontus,  70.  On  his  Father's  Silence,  9,  19.  On  the 
Son,  17.  Second  on  the  Son,  4.*  On  the  Holy  Spirit,  28.  On  the  Words  of  the 
Gospel,  20,  21  {v.  note,  p.  345).  Oration  on  the  Holy  Lights,  16.  On  Holy 
Baptism,  3,  22,'  24,  45.  The  Last  Farewell,  14.  Epistle  4,  Div.  2  (in  answer  to 
Ep.  14  of  Basil). 

Gregory  of  Nyssa — Total,  28. 

Against  Eunomius,  B.  i,  42;  B.  2,  ii;'B.  3,  2;  B.  4,  2,  3,  9;  B,  6,  4;3  B.  9,  3;  B.  II, 
3,^  5;  B.  12, 1.  Answer  to  Eunomius,  B.  2,  p.  296^  (v.  note,  p.  256).  On  the  Holy 
Spirit,  pp.  321,  329.3  On  Virginity,  12.  On  the  Early  Deaths  of  Infants,  p.  374." 
On  Pilgrimages,  p.  382.*  On  the  Making  of  Man,  (17,  2);  18,  9;  21,  4.  On  the 
Baptism  of  Christ,  p.  519. 

Chrysostom — Total,  694. 

On  the  Priesthood,  B.  3,  5.  Letter  to  the  Fallen  Theodore,  Ep.  I,  9,<  12,=  15,  16,  19 
Letter  to  a  Young  Widow,  3,  7.  Homily  on  Ignatius,  4.  Instructions  to  Catechu- 
mens, I,  i,<  3,  4;  2,  I.  On  Resisting  the  Temptations  of  the  Devil,  Horn.  3,  2,  3.= 
Against  Marcionists  and  Manichasans,  2,  4.'  On  the  Paralytic,  3.  Second 
Homily  on  Eutropius,  6,3  12,  15,*  i6.3  Letter  to  Olympias,  3.=  On  the  Statues, 
Hom.  2,  17,24;  5,  3,  9,  I2;=  6,  7;7,  (3),  4;3  9,  II;  12,17;  15.  2,  16;  16,  13,*  17;= 
i7j  IS;  19.  15;  20,  24;  21,  20. 

On  Matthew:  Hom.  i,  (8,  12);  3,  9;  4,  16,  17;=^  6,  I,  (2),  9;  8,6;  9,  8,^  10;  10,  2,= 
3,=»  5,'  6;  II,  3,  7;  13,  6,  8;  14,  2,="  4;  15,  2,  5,  7,3  8;  16,  5,s  6,3  io,3  17;*  18,  9;3  19, 
7,  io;<  22,  2,  4;*  23,  9;  24,  I,  3;3  26,  2*  4,'  5,5  6;3  27,  6;"  28,  6;  30,  6;  32,  2,  3,  6;3 
33,  7;'  35>  7;  37,3,M,  5;  38,  i;  40,  3,"  4.  5;  41,  (i^),  2,1  4,  6;  43,  3,  7;  45,  i,^  3; 
201 


114  HISTOBICAL   AND    LINGUISTIC   STUDIES 

46,  1,2,3  3;  47,  1,7  2,»  3,»  5;»  48,  9;  54.  3,'  9;  55,  8;  56,  i,'  3.  9;*  57.  6;3  58,  3,«4; 
60,  2;  61,  I,  2;'  62,  3,*  4.=  6;  63,  2,3  4;»  64,  i,^  3,  4;  65,  I,  2,'  (3),  5;  66,  3,'  5;  67, 

3;  68,  I,  3.'  5;  69,  I.  (2),  4;  70,  2;  71,  i;^  73.  i;  76,  5;  78.  i.'  4;  79,  i,'  2;8  82,  2,' 

(3);  86,  i;  87,  2;  88,  i,»  3;  90,  4-  On  John:  Horn.  3,  3,  6;  7,  2;  13,  4;  21,  i;  23, 
3;  24,  2,<  3;*  25,  l,<  3;  26,  i;  28,  2;»  31,  I;  33,  3;  36,  2;  38,  4,  5;  42,  3;»  43,  2; 
44,  I,  2;  45,  2,  3;»  48,  3;  49,3;  51,  3;3  54,  2,  4;='  59,  3.  4;  60,  4,  6;  63,  3;3  64,  4; 
65,  3;  66,  2f  67,  i;  70,1;  77,  i;  78,  4;  79,  i,  2,  5;"  83,  4;*  84,  i,3  2,  3;  85,  i;3  87, 
3;»  88,  3.  On  Acts:  Horn,  i,*  2,94,  6,'  {v.  note,  p.  46),  9,  13,  15,  i6,»  17,  18,='  19,  23,' 
24,*  29,  30,  31,'  {v.  note,  p.  202),  36,'  40,  41,7  43,  44,  45,3  55,4  {v.  note,  p.  326).  On 
Romans:  Horn,  i,  3,*  5,'  7,  9.*  ".*  I2,'  I4,s  15,8  i63  [v.  note,  p.  478),  iS.^-  21,  23,3 
25,3   26,5  29,  30,  31    [v.   notes,    pp.    539,    543,    549,    561).       On  i   Cor,:    Horn. 

2,  9,'  {v.  note,  p.  8);  2,  li;  3,  5,3  9;  4,  ll;  5,  5,  6,  ll;  7,  2;  9,  I,  10;  12,  5;  14, 
3,'  5;"  15,  5,  6,  10,  II,  i5-,»  16,  8,5  II;  18,  If  19,  7;  (21,  4);  23,  8;  {v.  notes,  pp. 
139,  140);  27,  6,  7;  30,  9,  {v.  note,  p.  196);  35,  n;  37,  3.  6;  39,  5,  6,3  8,3  9,=  ii;S 
40,  I,  5;3  41,  4;  42,  2,3  3,  5;  43,  6;»  44,  7.  On  2  Cor.:  Horn.  3,  4,  (5); 
4,  7;  7,  8;  8,  4;  9,  2,="  4;  10,  2,  4,  5;  11,  4,  5,  6;'  13,  4;3  19,  4;»  23,  i,  8;  26,  2,  4; 
5;  29,  6;'  30,  4.  On  Gal.,  ch.  2;  ch.  5.3  On  Eph.:  Horn.  I,»  3,  4,"  5, 
8,"  13,  l6,»  l8,»  20,  21,  24.  On  Philip.:  Introd.,  4;  Horn.,  I,  2,»  3,  4,3  6,5  7,  9,  10, 
12,  13,  15.3  On  Coloss.:  Horn.  2,'3  3,  8,'  10,  il.s  On  I  Thess.:  Horn.  i,»  2,3,5 
10,  II.'  On  2  Thess.:  Horn.  2^  4.  On  i  Tim.:  Horn.  6,  10,  11,  13,'  15,'  17.  On 
2  Tim.:  Horn.  3,  5,  6,  9,3  io.'°     On  Titus:  Horn.  2,»  5,  6.     On  Philemon:  Hom.  i, 

3.  On  Hebrews:  Hom.  I,  4;  3,  2,  3,  6;  4,  6;"  6,  I,  2,  7,  8;  7,  il;  8,  10;  9,  7;  11, 
9;  13,  10;  15,9;  18,  5,»  6;3  19,  4;'  23,  3,  4;  24,  9;  25,  8;  28,  9;  30,  3;  31,  8;  32, 
2,  6;  33,  I,  9-' 

Socrates — Total,  7. 

Church  Hist.  (Introd.,  p.  212),  B.  i,  ch.  26;  B.  2,  ch.  18,  19,*  30. 

SOZOMEN — Total,  3. 

Church  Hist.,  B.  2,  ch.  27,  33;  B.  3,  ch.  14. 

Theodoret— Total,  26. 

Prolog.,  p.  15,  17,(19),  30.  Church  Hist.,  B.  1,32;  B.  2,  2,6;»B.  4,  8;="  B.  5,  li. 
Dialogues,  pp.  170,  171,  173,  179,  202,  224.'  Letters,  14,  21,'  60,  74,  91,  120. 
(145),  146.' 

John  of  Damascus — Total,  24. 

On  the  Orthodox  Faith,  which  is  Div.3  of  his  Fountain  of  Knowledge.  B.  I.  On 
the  Trinity,  ch.  8="  (cf.  original);  B.  2,  ch.  (11),  11,  29;  B.  4,  ch.  15,(20),  25. 
Additional,  from  the  Sacred  Parallels,  under  the  title.  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven, 
18  references.  See  original.  Of  these,  14  are  verses  cited  which  are  not  included 
in  the  list  of  Scriptural  quotations  from  the  Fathers  given  above. 

LATIN. 

Hilary— Total,  74. 

On  the  Trinity,  B.  2,  33;  B.  4,  35;»  B.  6,  20,  33,  37,'  38'  (v.  original);  B.  7,  6; 
B.  8,  23,  25;  B.  9,  25,7  26,3  75;  B.  10,  33,  34,5  67;  B.  11,  21,3  22,  25,*  29,  32,3  37,= 
38,5  39;'7  B.  12,  47.  On  the  Synods,  or.  On  the  Faith  of  the  Orientals,  34,  38. 
On  the  Psalms,  Ps.  i,  sec.  14.  Additional,  see  on  Matt.  12,  32;  on  Ps.  2,  note 
42;  on  Ps.  147,  15;  on  Ps.  148;  r/.  also  on  Matt.  5,  34,  and  Ps.  125.  See  the 
article  De  Regno  Christia  Regno  Dei  Patris  Distincto  in  the  Benedictine  Preface, 
pp.  Ixi-lxviii,  ed.  Paris,  1 693. 

202 


KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IN  THE  FATHERS  115 

Ambrose — Total,  124. 

Duties  of  the  Clergy,  B.  i,  13,  15,  i6,='  21,  26,  30,  48,  (49),  49;  B.  2,  4,  6,'  7.  On 
the  Holy  Spirit,  B.  I,  3,  ii;  B.  2,  2,  7;  B.  3,  10,^  17,'  20,7  21.  On  the  Decease  of 
Satyrus,  B.  i,  51;  B.  2,  94,  ioi,=  105,  116.  Of  the  Christian  Faith,  B.  i,  i,3  2,  4, 
5;  B.  2,  9,  12;^  B.  3,  7,  II,  I2=«  (z/.  note,  p.  258);  B.  4,  5;"  B.  5,  5,  I2,^s  13,  17. 
On  the  Mysteries,  2,  4,  6.  On  Repentance,  B.  I,  7,=-  15;  B.  2,  3,  (4),  7,  1 1-  Con- 
cerning Virgins,  B.  i,  sec.  6,  7, 1 1,  12.  Concerning  Widows,  8,  13.'  Letters:  Ep. 
63,  sec.  II,  93,  97,^  109. 

Jerome— Total,  102. 

Letters:  Ep.  3,  5;  I2;=  14,  I,  5,  6,  8;  16,  2;  22,  30,  32,  35.  40;'  43.  3;  45,  6; 
46,  10;  48,  14;  SI,  5;"  52,  12;  58.  3;  60,  3;*  66,  8;  69,  6;»  71,  3;  79.  3;="  80,  3;  92; 
118,  4;=  122,  3;  123,  II,  14;  125;  133.3;  144.  8.  Against  the  Luciferians,  4. 
Perpetual  Virginity  of  Mary,  6.  Against  Jovianus,  B.  i,  3,  4,  I2,s  26,='  35,  37',  40; 
B.  2,  16,'  18,  19,  25,  27,'*  28,'  33,  37.  To  Pammachius  against  John  of  Jerusalem, 
25,  34,''  36*.  Against  the  Pelagians  (Argument,  p.  448),  B.  i.  lo,*  16,  31;*  B.  2, 
24,  25  (p.  471);  B.  3,  (6»),  15,  19'  {v.  note,  p.  497)-  Illustrious  Men,  5,  (18). 
Apology,  B.  I,  31;  B.  2,  18.6 

RUFINUS — Total,  23. 

Epilogue  to  Pamphilus's  Apology  for  Origen,  pp.  423,  427.    Pref.  to  Trans,  of  Ori- 

gen's  First   Prins.,  428.    Apology  (Introd.,  434),  B.   i,  sec.  8,  16,  32,   34.    On 

the  Apos.  Creed,  6,  7,7  (14),  34*  (z'-  note,  p.  556),  39.  46. 
SuLPiTius  Severus — Total,  12. 

Life  of  St.  Martin:  Pref.  to  Desiderius,  p.  3.     Sacred  Hist.,  B.  2,  ch.  3.     Letters: 

Ep.  I  (disputed),  ch.  2,  6;  Ep.  2,  ch.  2,  4,'»  5,  8.* 
Augustine — Total,  1,310. 

1.  Early  General  Writings  (174  references): 

Soliloquies,  B.  I,  3.^  Confessions,  B.  I,  16;  B.  2,  2;  B.  8,  I,  6;  B.  11,  2;="  B.  13, 
12,  21.  Christian  Doctrine,  B.  I,  19;  B.  3,  3,  12,  17,  18,  25,  37;  B.  4,  18.  On  the 
Catechising  of  the  Uninstructed,  7,  17,  19.  20,  22,  24,  25.  On  the  Creed,  to 
Catechumens,  12.^  On  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (in  Vol.  6)  (v.  notes,  pp.  3,  S,  6), 
B.  1, 1,3 2,^  3,* 4,5 6, 8,^3  9,610,12,  I5,«  17, 18,=' 19,  21,  23;  B.  2,  4(1/.  note,  p.  38),  6,s 
7,*  10.=^  11,3  15,4  i6,»8  17,5  25.2  On  the  Faith  of  Things  not  Seen,  5,  7,  9.  On 
Lying,  36.     On  the  Work  of  Monks,  2,  6,3  8,==  9,  13,  35.  3^.  40.     On  Continence, 

9,  20.     On  the  Good  of  Marriage,  24,'  35.     On  Holy  Virginity,  7,  9,  13,  14,'  19, 

21,  22,3  23,3  24,s  2S.»  26,  27,  29,  32,=*  36,==  38,  47. 

2.  Anti-Manichaean  (ill  references): 

On  the  Profit  of  Believing,  36.  Morals  of  the  Catholic  Church,  17,  35.  Morals 
of  the  Manichceans,  (3),  S,  9,  12,  14.     Faith  and  the  Creed:  In  Retractations,  ch. 

10.  On  Two  Souls,  12.  Against  Fortunatus,  I,  3.^7.  17,  19.  21.  Against  the 
Ep.  of  Manichreus  called  Fundamental,  9,^  I3,  24.^  25.=     On  the  Nature  of  Good, 

22,  48.  Reply  to  Faustus,  B.  2,  i,  6;  B.  4,  I,  2,*  3;S  B.  5,  9,  10;  B.  6,  8;^  B.  7,  2; 
B.  8,  2;^  B.  10,  I,  3;3  B.  il,  3,  7,="  8;3  B.  12,  (12=-),  20,  32,  33,  42,  44;3  B.  15,  2;= 
B.  16,  20,  22,  24,3  29;  B.  17,  4;*  B.  18,  7;  B.  19,  8,  24,  27,  30;^  (B.  20,  17;'  B.  21, 
14^);  B.  22,  14,  I7,»  41,  54."  67,  76,'  80;  B.  24,  i;»  B.  28,  5;  B.  30,  4;  B.  33,  i,«  2.' 

3.  Anti-Donatist  (79  references): 

(Introd.,  pp.  383,  38s,  392.)     On  Baptism,  B.  2,  14;'  B.  4,  4,3  5,  g,'  17,=  i8,7  19,' 
203 


116  HISTORICAL    AND    LINGUISTIC    STUDIES 

21,^25;  B.  5,  23;  B.  6,  12,^  25,  43;  B.  7,  54.  Against  the  Letters  of  Petilian, 
B.  2,  8,=^  23,*  43,  53,  55,  59,  61,5  63,  72,  73,  853  (v.  note,  p.  584),  97,  105,2  109;  B. 
3,  7,  56.*     Correction  of  the  Donatists,  i,  (2). 

4.  Anti-Pelagian  (243  references): 

Introd.,  p.  61.  On  Forgiveness  of  Sins  and  Baptism,  B.  i,  15,=^  21,='  24,3  26,^  30,s 
33,^  36,^  39,  42,  47,  55.'  58;'°  B.  2,  i,=  41.*  43,  57;  B.  3,  6,?  21.  On  the  Spirit 
and  the  Letter,  48.  On  Nature  and  Grace,  9,^  26.  On  Man's  Perfection  in 
Righteousness,  15.  On  the  Proceedings  of  Pelagius,  il,  13,314,715,723,^24,=^ 
28,3  57,^  62,3  65.=  On  the  Grace  of  Christ,  B.  i,  ch.  11,  32,  54.  On  Original  Sin, 
B.  2,  sec.  5,  12,*  19,3  20,  21,^  23,  29,  45.  On  Marriage  and  Concupiscence,  B.  i, 
22,3  38;  B.  2,  5,=  8,  33,=  50,  51.  On  the  Soul  and  its  Origin,  B.  I,  10,*  13,  33,  34; 
B.  2,  I4,«  16,5  I7.'»i8;  B.  3,  15,='  16,"  17,'*  I9,'^  22;3  B.  4,  16,  38.*  Against  Two 
Letters  of  the  Pelagians,  B.  i,  11,  40;^^  B.  3,  14;  B.  4,  21,  22,=  24,  28.'»  From  Ep., 
215,  I.  On  Rebuke  and  Grace,  5,  14,  18,"  34,  39,  4°,  41,  42,  45-  On  the  Predes- 
tination of  the  Saints,  17,  25,  34,^  40,  42"  On  the  Gift  of  Perseverance,  2,  5,=  6, 
11,27,  29,«35,  37,55,  58,61. 

5.  The  City  of  God  (105  references): 

(V.  note,  p.  I.)  (V.  B.  I,  36;  B.  4,  2,  et  saepe).  B.  4,  7,  28;  B.  5,  (16),  18,  (19),  21, 
24;^  (B.  8,  24);  B.  9,  21;  B.  10,  32;  (B.  II,  i;  B.  12,  9);  B.  13,  7;  B.  14,  (i),  2, 
(13,  28);  B.  15, 1,  (8,  18,  20,  26);  B.  16,  24,  34;  B.  17,  i,»  3.  4,  6,="  7,'  9,3  10,  12, 
15,  16,^  17;  B.  18,  (i),  II,  (29),  3i,'»  34,"  (47),  49,  53;  B.  19,  (4,  5,  I7);  B.  20,  4,  7, 
9,"  13,'  (14,  16,  17),  23,  24;  B.  21,  I,'  9,=  16,  23,  24,=  25,'°  26,=  27;t  B.  22,  I,  3,3 
(6),  12,  19,3  20,  23,  24,3  29,  30. 

6.  On  the  Psalms  (169  references): 

Ch.  2,  11;  7,  8,  14;  8,  2;  10,  3,  7;  ".  6;  12,  6;  14,  6,  8;  18,  16,  35;  22,  29;^  33, 
10;  34,  i;  37,  10,  Pt.  2,  13,  Pt.  3,  5,^  10,  13;  38,  12;  39,  18;  40,  15;  41,  II;  43,  4; 
44,7,  13;  45,  12,  15,"  22;  47,1,  io;M9,3,Pt.  2,  3;  50,  9,^  n,  I3;"  51,  I9;  52,2,3 
5,'  io,«  II;  (53.  8);  54,  3;  55.  i3;  57.  7,  12;  60,  2,  4;  61,  (4),  7;  62,  4,'  (9);  65, 
i,=  9;  67,  8,  io;S  68,  4,  21,  (37);  69,  2,  30;  72,  3,  II,  17,='  (18);  63,  5,  26;  64,  6,  20, 
21;  65,  11;  76,  (I),  11;  77.  6;  78,  2,  3,  28,  29,  33,  (37);  79,  2;  81,  19,^  20;  82,  4; 
83,  2;  87,  4,  5;=^  89,  35;=^  (91,  13);  92.  14;  94,  I9,  23;  98.  8;  (99,  n);  loi,  2;  102, 
If  103,  23;^  104,  20,  36;  105,  6;  106,  20,  32;  109,  i;  110,5;  ill,  5;  112,  3;3  113, 
l;  119.  IS.  75.  150.  159;  (126,2);  129,6;  142,  5;  143,  8;  144,  9;  145,  i,  4,  10,  ll," 
12,5  18;  146,  8;'  147,  8,  13,  21,  28;   149,  2,  (3). 

7.  Later  Miscellaneous  Writings  (429  references): 

Letters,  29,  5;3  36,8;  43,  27;  44,  4,  I0;=  76,  I;  78,  i;  91,  3;  93,  I9,  22,  30,  48;S 
102,  15,  19,37;  130,  2,3  21,=  22;  (137,  16);  148,  7;  164,  11;  166,  i;  167,  3;  189, 
3,  5;  220,  8.  Sermons  on  N.  T.  Lessons,  3,  i,"  6,  8,3  9,  10;  6,  6,"  7,»  9,  I9;» 
7,  5,"  6,  7,  12,  13,'  8,  3,7  5,  12;=^  9,  4;S  10,  8,  9,'^  10;=^  12,  6,s  7;  16,  2;S  17,  7;=^  21, 
(l),  z?  4,*  19,3  20,»  25,  (33).  36;  24,  I,  2,"  5;3  25,  9;'  27,  I3,«  15;  28,  l.s  4;  30,3, 
(8);  32,  5;  33,  i;  35,  2,"  5,'  If  36.  4.  lO;  37.  4,  5;  38.  18,  (19),  21;  40,  5;  5°,  i," 
3;  53,  6;  55,  9,'  (11),  13;  59.  i,*  2;  60,  i,  5;*  62,  5;=^  63,  i;  64,  5;  75.  3;  76,  i; 
77.  I.  13;  78.  II;  79,  5;  80,  4;  81,  6;  85,  8;  87,  2,  6,  7,*  9.  On  the  Gospel  of 
John:  Tractate  3,21;  4,  4,  13;  (7.  21);  8,  12;  9,  15,'  u,  i,*  3,  5,  6,  12;  12,  5,»  8; 
13,  2,=  II,  14;  14,  8;  16,  6;»  19,  18;  21,  7,  13,  25,  2,9  3, 19;  26,  7;  27,  12;  28,  9; 
30,  7;  35,  7;  42,  10;  44,  6;  49,  12,  26;  50,  12;  51,  4;  52,  i;  55,  l;^  63,  2;3  64,  l; 
67,  2,"3;7  68,  2;'7  73,  4;"  76,  3;  79,  2;  101,4;  102,  3;  107,  2;  109,  4;  113,  2,» 
1  204 


KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IN  THE  FATHERS  117 

5;  115,  1,5  2,'5  3;  116,  i;  118,  4;  122,  2,4,  (7),  9;"  124.  5."  7-^  On  the  First  Ep. 
of  John,  (i,  12);  2,  13;  3,  ii;  4.  5;  6,  143  (z/.  note,  p.  500);  9.  2,' 8;  10,9,  10.  On 
the  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  B.  i,  3,  35;  B.  2,  4,  S,=  I2,<  17,  19,*  3°,  (38),4i,45. 
56,  61,*  71,  73,  77;  B.  3,  3,»  8,  22;  B.  4,  io.3  On  the  Trinity  (in  Vol.  3),  B.  i,  8' 
{v.  note,  p.  26),  9,  10,7  II,  12,  I3;5  B.  2,  i8;S  B.  9,  10;  B.  13,15;  B.  14,  19;  B.  15, 
18,  19.  Enchiridion,  (16),  21,  23,  30,  39,'  67,"  bg,"  70,  80,  91,'  in,  112,  Ii5,='ii6. 
On  the  Good  of  Widowhood,  24.     Against  Lying,  24."     On  Patience,  23,  24. 

Cassian— Total,  71. 

(V.  note,  p.  192.)  Institutes,  B.  4,  36,  38;  B.  7,  15,  27;  B.  12,  15.  Conferences: 
First  of  Abbot  Moses,  3,  4,'  (5),  9,'  13.'*  M."  20.  Second  Conf.,  2."  Of  Paph- 
nutius,  9;  of  Daniel,  10;  of  Serapion,  il.^  First  of  Serenus,  5,  6.  Second  Conf., 
14.  First  of  Isaac,  19,^29.  Second  Conf.,  6,  il.  First  of  Chosremon,  6,  12.^ 
Third  Conf.,  11.  First  of  Nesteros,  9,'  (10).  Second  Conf.,  3.  Of  Piamun,  i6;3 
of  Pinufius,  8,'  10.  First  of  Theonas,  5,="  9.  Third  Conf.,  15.  Of  Abraham,  26." 
On  the  Incarnation,  against  Nestorius,  B.  i,  3;  B.  3,  12,  14;'  B.  5,  7;'  B.  7,  10,  23. 

Vincent — Total,  2. 

A  Comminitory,  6,  26. 

Leo  the  Great — Total,  29. 

(Cf.  Epp.  56  and  162.)  Sermons,  3,  2,  3;  9,  2;3  10,  3;  I9,  I;  21,  3;  22,  5;^  31,  2;' 
33.  5;'  34.  2;  51,  2,  3;  54,  7;  61,  7;  66,   7;  70,  3;  73.  2;  82,  i;  90,  3;  95,  i.  2,3  5. 

Gregory  the  Great— Total,  45. 

Pastoral  Rule,  Pt.  i,  3,  9;  Pt.  2,  3,  4;  Pt.  3,  3,  I5,  27,"  28.  Letters:  B.  i,  43,=  62, 
77;  B.  2,  27,  36,  47;3  B.  3,  10,  65;  B.  5,  18,  20,=  39;  B.  6,  58;  B.  7,  7,  26,3  30;  B. 
8,  (2),  33;  B.  9,  109,  120;  B.  1 1,  29,  45,  (46),  65,»  66;  B.  13,  i,  6,  31,'  39,'  42. 

(Total  number  of  references,  3,974.) 


205 


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